Sunshine Coast coach Kylee Byrne expects Diamonds rookie Cara Koenen to continue to make big strides on court, after starting her international career.
The 24-year-old attacker came off the bench for her maiden appearance in green and gold on Tuesday night, during Australia’s defeat to the Silver Ferns on Tuesday night.
She then starred in a starting role during their win on Wednesday night and she was again prominent during a loss on Saturday.
Byrne said Lightning team-mates gathered to watch her debut.
“It was such a proud moment,” she said.
“The playing group got together to experience it and there was a really loud cheer (when she came on).
“When she got her first goal there was some real reflection about how far she has come and what she’s done to get to this point, to pull that green and gold on.
“She’s worked extremely hard and I think this is just the start of so many things to come.”
Koenen showed some promising signs in her first outing off the bench and was player of the match in her second game, scoring 29 goals.
The Townsville product has been with the Lightning since their inception in 2017.
She bided her time at the club initially, behind Australian representatives Caitlin Bassett and Steph Wood, before stepping up as a key player in 2019, when C-Bass left for Sydney.
She’s since developed her game to earn Aussie selection and is now putting pressure on the likes of Bassett for regular game time in the national team.
The Diamonds wrap up their series against New Zealand on Sunday.
While Koenen is taking part in the Constellation Cup in New Zealand, her Lightning team-mates are training hard.
They’ve mixed it up this pre-season, with court sessions along with activities like outrigging, archery and rugby.
They recently did a training session with the University of Sunshine Coast Barbarians.
“That’s what this pre-season has been about,” Byrne said.
“Doing different activities and getting out into the community.
“And playing sone different sports puts the players under (a different) pressure and what I’m looking at is their decision making and whether their skills stand up.”
Midcourter Maddy McAuliffe said she enjoyed the rugby session.
“We did some work on the tackling pads and played some Fijian touch,” she said.
“It was very different, going from a 30m netball court to a 100m field. It’s a bit of extra distance to cover but it was a great session.”
She said they deserved a ‘pass mark’ in rugby and youngster Ash Unie was particularly impressive.
Coach Byrne said they made a concerted effort to train outside the square, after their 2020 season was essentially spent in a bubble due to the impacts of COVID-19.
“We were very structured last year,” Byrne said.
“We couldn’t do a lot then. It was business, get on the court and train and play.
“So, this year the focus has been on the team getting together and enjoying each other’s company again.
“We got very serious last year and we had to be, but at the end of season players’ review the aim was to enjoy the sport and realise why we love it again.
“Hopefully, we’ve achieved that (this pre-season) and that will show on court later this year.”
They played against the Queensland men’s team in a closed trial on Thursday.
“It gets us that physical side of the sport…to see what they can do against bigger bodies,” Byrne said.
