BATHURST’S talented junior netballers spent yesterday afternoon learning from two of the best as Australian Diamonds players Catherine Cox and Rebecca Bulley conducted a coaching clinic which will continue today.
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The recently retired Cox, one of Australia’s most capped internationals, and Bulley, fresh from signing with the Queensland Firebirds for the 2015 ANZ Championship, were only too happy to be in Bathurst to impart some knowledge.
Cox in particular is lapping up life off the court at the moment after a storied career that finished with a championship win with the Melbourne Vixens earlier this year.
“I’m loving retirement so far, it is so good and to be honest I’m so unmotivated to actually do anything physical at the moment in the knowledge that I don’t really have to anymore,” she said.
“That feeling confirms for me that I made the right decision.
“At the start of the last season I didn’t think about it, it wasn’t on the agenda but as time went on it became clear that it was what I needed to do.
“It was a tough call but the right one.
“Netball is what I know best though, so I love doing this [coaching] and I like to do it as often as I can, and being from NSW it is nice to be out here in Bathurst.”
Cox says the finality of her decision could hit a bit harder once the 2015 competition starts.
“I won’t be missing it when they start their pre-season, but when they get to the finals – the games that are the reason you play – then it might start to hit home a bit more,” she said.
Bulley, meanwhile, will be back in action next month with the Diamonds as they take on arch-rivals New Zealand in the Constellation Cup, having returned to the squad after missing the Commonwealth Games.
“I went to Manchester for the pre-Games camp and was a training partner, but none of the main squad got injured so I didn’t get into the final squad,” she explained.
“I’m back for the Tests against New Zealand then have a month and a half off again before the pre-season starts with the Firebirds.”
Bulley will join the Queensland side, having spent the past three years with Adelaide.
That included a Championship win in 2013, but in Queensland she will be joining a side that is coming off consecutive runners-up finishes.
“They’re a quality team who have been close for the last two years and hopefully I can play a role in helping them improve a bit more,” she said.
“Laura Geitz is a great captain and sets a fantastic standard and culture for the rest of the team to follow and I’d like to add to that as well.”
