Fever star on alert for rough reunion
A bruised and battered Caitlin Bassett is preparing for another physical battle as West Coast Fever try to continue their unbeaten start to the season against Adelaide Thunderbirds at HBF Stadium tomorrow.
Fever are on top of the Australian ANZ Championship conference after four rounds, while the Thunderbirds are bottom after recording their first win of the season last weekend.
Bassett has been in brilliant form with almost 200 goals already and said it was the most consistent netball she had played in the competition.
Tomorrow, the Australian Diamonds shooter will come up against former teammate Eboni Beckford-Chambers.
It is the first time the pair have faced off since the dramatic showdown between Australia and England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after Adelaide chose not to use Beckford-Chambers in their pre-season matches against Fever.
“They (England) were a little bit upset about that after we beat them by a goal,” Bassett said.
“I’m not expecting any niceties out on court. But I’m really looking forward to taking on the Thunderbirds.
“They’re going to be really pumped up after their first win of the season last week.
“For Eboni to come back and play in front of what used to be her home crowd, she’s going to want to prove that she made the right decision in moving to Thunderbirds.
“But I think that with the culture we’ve been building in the west, I think she’ll definitely be a little bit jealous of how we’ve been going and we’re really happy with how we’re performing at the moment.”
Fever have had a disjointed preparation for the match after arriving back from Sydney on Tuesday.
Bassett was feeling the effects of a bruising tussle with NSW defender Sharni Layton.
But she was expecting more of the same from Beckford-Chambers, the Fever club champion in the past two seasons.
“Eboni is very tight on the body and is very physical, so she does a lot of pushing and shoving in the circle and that’s just something I’ve got to expect after coming off Sharni Layton last week and feeling a bit battered and bruised,” Bassett said.
“I’ve just got to pick myself up and prepare myself for more.”
