Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz Captain Andre Blake describes his first staging of a two-day goalkeeper clinic a tremendous success, as he offered guidance to some of the country's upcoming stalwarts at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on December 14 and 15.
Over 20 goalkeepers from across the Manning and daCosta Cup, and two women goalkeepers from the Reinas Academy attended the invitational clinic to receive world-class training from several coaches.
The goalkeeper coaches included Blake’s Philadelphia Union coach, Phil Wheddon, Jamaica’s Under 20 Goalkeeper coach, Andrew Sewell, Reinas Academy’s Neo Oxford, Kingston College’s Robert Beckford and Reggae Boyz Goalkeeper Jahmali Waite.
Blake pointed out that the two-day clinic delivered as expected.
“The commitment and focus from all the goalkeepers was good, and the hope is that they will return to their clubs and schools realising what they need to work on to get to the next level," Blake said.
“Playing at the highest level teaches you a lot, and this is what I’m sharing. We may find gems slipping through the cracks here, so if we can find them and help them, that’s good for our country and their personal and professional development," he added.
The clinic exercises included handling, diving, cutbacks, repositioning, functional play and more.
“Over the two days, we did a lot of footwork because goalkeeping is changing, and if you can’t use your feet, you’re at a disadvantage, so if we can get them into that from now, we can set them up for success," Blake reasoned.
Clarendon College’s starting goalkeeper Roshae Burrell praised the clinic highly: “It was a great experience; I learned a lot from Andre Blake. He’s a good trainer, and Coach Phil is a vibe; he is a good coach!”
For Hydel High’s Tajarie Lee, it was a wonderful experience, “The clinic has been great; I learnt a lot and all that they teach us, I intend to put it on the training ground and the pitch going forward."
National Under-20 Coach Andrew Sewell was both a teacher and a student. “The experience was pretty wonderful, I must say. It was top-notch and professional. The clinic was well-needed, and I learned a lot as well. I must commend Mr. Andre Blake for this initiative.”
The Andre Blake Goalkeeper Clinic was made possible by the kind support of the JFF, ISSA, The Sagicor Foundation, Spectrum Systems, PrintWare Tech, Tru Shake, Powerade, Wata, Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Leep Marketing and Uhlsport.
Mouse Morris has been forced to rule Gentlemansgame out of his Christmas objective in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown due to a minor foot injury.
The grey burst on the three-mile chase scene when beating last year’s King George winner Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.
Morris had been preparing the lightly-raced seven-year-old for the Leopardstown highlight ever since, but the Robcour-owned gelding will now wait for either the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham or the Dublin Racing Festival.
“He’s just got a small issue with a foot, it’s nothing I’m concerned about but it’s the the timing of it that is a pain,” said Morris.
“It’s not serious, it’s just a total pain, so we’ll look at Cheltenham now or the Dublin Racing Festival, something like that.
“Unfortunately it’s been the case with him he’s had niggly issue that have kept him off the track but at least this is not one of his old problems, it’s just one of them things.”
Morris also had news of French Dynamite, third to Classic Getaway at Thurles last month.
“He came out of Thurles well, but he’s very hard to place now,” said Morris.
“I think I’m considering trying to get him qualified for the National so he needs to be placed over three miles, that might be what we do. We’ll jiggle him around a bit.”
Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos is likely to be seen once more before taking aim at a Cheltenham return for the Festival in March.
Last season the mare made her mark when winning three bumpers in good style, including a defeat of the useful Queens Gamble at Market Rasen and then a wide-margin success in a Grade Two event at the Grand National meeting.
Her hurdling career has been equally successful so far, with the five-year-old taking her debut over obstacles by seven and a half lengths at Huntingdon in November.
She then lined up at Cheltenham on Friday in what has historically been a good race, previously won by the likes of Datsalrightgino, Chantry House and Elixir De Nutz.
Under Paddy Brennan she was the 5-6 favourite and cantered home a comfortable victor, with the runner-up beaten two and three-quarter lengths and the third over 13 lengths away.
A return to Cheltenham for the showpiece meeting is the ultimate aim, with O’Brien hoping to find another suitable outing for the mare before then.
“She’s very well and we’re really pleased with her. She did it well at Cheltenham, I’m not much into timing but people say she did it very fast,” he said.
“You need a fast one and her last furlongs were fairly fast, so fingers crossed that bodes well.
“You couldn’t fault her, she did everything we wanted her to do and took the whole thing in really well.
“Cheltenham is different to anywhere else, I know it’s not March and there’ll be twice as many people there, or three times as many, but it’s still great to get her there.
“When, hopefully, she goes back there in March, she’ll be in familiar surroundings having been there before.
“There was plenty of depth in there, it was a nice race to go for and it ticked a lot of boxes for us.”
O’Brien will now scour the calendar for the mare’s next outing, with early February considered the ideal time for her final run before the highlight of the National Hunt season.
“The obvious one is Doncaster in January, but Paddy (Brennan) feels that might be too soon, we’d probably be happier with the first week in February,” he said.
“It’s just trying to find somewhere where she hasn’t got a load of weight, we’ll give it a go and try to find something.”
Whilst Dysart Enos made a success of the meeting, the O’Brien team did suffer some disappointment when Bonttay unseated Brennan in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.
The mare has been incredibly consistent for connections having never finished out of the top two coming into the race, and on the turn for home she looked poised to add to her record as she approached the penultimate hurdle on the bridle.
A third Cheltenham success was not to be, however, as the six-year-old misjudged the obstacle and pecked heavily on landing before parting ways with her rider.
Thankfully both horse and rider were unharmed and O’Brien hopes to find another day for the mare to shine.
“It was a long way out so it’s a bit difficult to know whether she’d have won or not, but she’s come out of it fine,” he said.
“She had a little scratch on her hind leg but other than that she’s OK, she’ll be fine for another day.”
West Indies T20I Captain Rovman Powell says he is not concerned with the team’s death bowling heading into Tuesday’s fourth T20I against England at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
Phil Salt starred with an unbeaten 109 to help England chase down a mammoth target of 223 to win the third T20I on Saturday in Grenada. As such, the West Indies will enter the fourth game with a 2-1 lead and a chance to clinch the series.
England hit 19 sixes on their way to victory and Powell says his team will be solely focused on bringing that number down for the remainder of the series.
“It comes down to execution. Once we can execute as a bowling group, the six-hitting count will go down so that is what we’re stressing on for the rest of the series,” he said.
“Skills are very important in T20. Those Yorkers, wide Yorkers and defensive Yorkers are very important, especially when you get good batters on good wickets. If your skillset is not really up to par, you will always find yourself under pressure,” he added.
With that being said, Powell said he is not concerned with his team’s inability to defend totals.
“It’s not of major concern at the moment. All we’re concerned with is to just keep improving in all three areas. As a team, that is what we strive for and once we do that, we’ll be okay,” he said.
A question many people asked after the third game is why Powell opted to go with Andre Russell, who was expensive in his previous three overs, for the last over as opposed to himself, Kyle Mayers or Sherfane Rutherford for the last over with England needing 21 to win.
“When you look on the scheme of things, Russell was going at 10 runs per over and they needed in excess of 20 runs in the last over so I think it was only fair that I give Russell, one of my main bowlers, the final over. Unfortunate things do happen and if the situation did arise in another game, I’d be confident enough for Russell to bowl the final one,” Powell said.
With all that said, Powell says the team is in a good place ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“The conversations have been positive. We’re still in a good place and leading the series. It was just unfortunate that we didn’t come out on top,” he said.
“We went for the series win in our last game and unfortunately came up short. Tomorrow provides another opportunity for us to do that. The guys are upbeat,” he added.
The 30-year-old has yet to lose a series as skipper of the West Indies T20I side and spoke about the key to getting the best out of his players.
“I think it’s just putting players in roles that they are comfortable. We have a very good team with a lot of experience so it’s very important to put players in roles that they are comfortable with. Once you do that then you get the best out of players,” he said.
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel has made two changes to the 15-member squad ahead of the fourth and fifth T20 Internationals (T20Is) against England.
The Selection Panel is resting fast bowler Alzarri Joseph in consideration of his workload including the forthcoming all-format tour of Australia in January and February. He is replaced in the squad by fellow pacer Oshane Thomas. Johnson Charles, the experienced batter is also called into the squad to replace Shimron Hetmyer.
West Indies currently lead the Series 2-1 after winning the first two T20Is in Barbados and Grenada. England won the third match in Grenada ahead of the two teams travelling to Trinidad for the finale. The West Indies have a chance to clinch the T20I Series on Tuesday 19 December in the fourth encounter at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The final match will be played on the Thursday 21 December at the same venue. Both matches are day/night games with the first ball bowled at 4pm local time (3pm Jamaica time).
FULL SQUAD: Rovman Powell (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russel, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd and Oshane Thomas.
MATCH SCHEDULE
3 December – 1st CG United ODI: West Indies won by 4 wickets at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
6 December – 2nd CG United ODI: England won by 6 wickets at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
9 December - 3rd CG United ODI: West Indies won by 4 wickets at Kensington Oval, Barbados
12 December – 1st T20I: West Indies won by 4 wickets at Kensington Oval, Barbados
14 December – 2nd T20I: West Indies won by 10 runs at National Stadium, Grenada
16 December – 3rd T20I: England won by 7 wickets at National Stadium, Grenada
19 December – 4th T20I at Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad (4pm local time/3pm Jamaica time)
21 December – 5th T20I at Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad (4pm local time/3pm Jamaica time)
Paul Nicholls remains confident Bravemansgame will put up a staunch defence of his crown in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park next week.
The eight-year-old was a brilliant 14-length winner of the Boxing Day showpiece last season, but has had to make do with minor honours on each of his four subsequent starts.
Bravemansgame was best of the rest behind Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March and rounded off his season with a third-placed finish at Punchestown.
He has been beaten at odds-on in his first two outings of this season, in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby and the Betfair Chase at Haydock, but Nicholls feels that while his Gold Cup effort may have taken its toll, his star chaser is showing signs at home he is returning to his peak ahead of what the Ditcheat handler considers as a “home game”.
“Bravemansgame won the race last year and then the season before he won the Kauto Star (Novices’ Chase) around Kempton,” he said.
“He loves it there and it is the ultimate track for him. It is almost a home game for him in many ways.
“Whether the Gold Cup left a mark on him, I don’t know, and it could be that it has just taken a while to get him back. He worked as well as he could work on Saturday, and he looks good. We are looking forward to the King George.”
Lat season saw Bravemansgame head straight to the King George following victory in the Charlie Hall, and Nicholls was initially planning on taking the same route this term.
However, having suffered defeat in West Yorkshire, the champion trainer decided to take in the Betfair Chase – and while he was beaten again, he insists he has no regrets.
He added: “The thing is, it is easy to wrap all these horses in cotton wool, but he is a year older and it was a very valuable race at Haydock.
“We knew he would need the run at Wetherby and with Betfair putting all the money into it at Haydock you want to make it as competitive as you can, and it was an interesting race.
“He ran a good race, and he was bang there for three miles. Then Daryl (Jacob) just looked after him. He had only run three weeks before it and between the two races I had been a bit easy on him. It suits him being fresh and doing a lot of work.
“Bryan (Drew, owner) was very keen to go for the race. He owns him outright and you respect his wishes. Ultimately his target, and my target, since he came in has been Boxing Day and he is ready for it. ”
Bravemansgame will be joined in the King George field by his veteran stablemate Frodon, who claimed a popular victory in the race three years ago under Bryony Frost and was last seen finishing third when seeking a second win in the Badger Beer Handicap Chase at Wincanton.
“Frodon loves it around Kempton and he is in really good form. He is not getting any younger, but he will still run a good race,” said Nicholls.
“He has been a great horse for us. He has come on from Wincanton where the ground went a bit soft and it didn’t quite work out.
“He has a huge task at the age of 11 against those younger legs, but he will still run a good race. He is a legend of a horse. It would be absolutely wonderful if he could finish third or fourth.”
On the same card Nicholls is planning to send Rubaud into battle against the mighty Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle.
The trainer admits his Elite Hurdle hero faces an “impossible task”, but he is happy to roll the dice.
He said: “His form is progressive, and he keeps on winning, but this another big step he has got to take. You can never be afraid of one horse they say, but Constitution Hill is a special horse.
“He will be a hard horse to beat, but we will give it our best shot and if we finish second we will be delighted.
“I don’t think there is any chink in Constitution Hill’s armour, and he will be ready for this. Rubaud won the Elite Hurdle well, but this will be an impossible task on what we have seen from Constitution Hill.”
Nico de Boinville insists everything possible has been done to prevent Shishkin from downing tools again in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase, but ultimately it will be up to the horse himself to behave at Kempton.
The nine-year-old has been a marvellous servant for Seven Barrows handler Nicky Henderson, winning 13 times under rules and claiming multiple Grade One victories.
However, he blotted his copybook when refusing to race in the 1965 Chase at Ascot last month and has been denied the chance to get back on track since that mishap.
A potential run in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle was ruled out due to that meeting being called off, while heavy ground at Sandown was considered unsuitable for the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
Shishkin must now go into the King George on Boxing Day with big questions to answer and De Boinville admits all his connections can do is work hard and hope for the best.
When asked how much can be done to get Shishkin going if he stalls again when the tape goes up, the jockey told Sky Sports Racing: “Not much – if horses don’t want to run, they won’t run!”
De Boinville, who has been ever-present in the saddle throughout Shishkin’s career, is happy with how his preparations have gone back in Lambourn, though.
“I’ve done lots of sitting on him,” he added. “All boxes are ticked and crossed and we’ve tried everything, so we won’t be going to Kempton thinking ‘oh, I wish we’d done that in practice’.
“It’s one of those, if he doesn’t want to do it, he won’t do it – no matter what I do.
“In actual fact, he’s one of those horses that the more pressure you put on him, the more he’ll dig his heels in.
“But look, he hasn’t shown one inkling of doing it since he’s got back home after Ascot.
“It would have been nice to have got a run into him, but these things happen and I’m looking forward to it – if we jump off and everything, I think he’s in for a big race.”
Olly Murphy could consider sending Thunder Rock back over hurdles later in the season following his disappointing performance in Saturday’s December Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
Having got the better of subsequent Coral Gold Cup runner-up Mahler Mission on his seasonal debut at Carlisle, Thunder Rock lined up as favourite for the weekend’s feature handicap at Prestbury Park, but the alarm bells were ringing from an early stage and he was eventually pulled up by Sean Bowen.
Murphy reported the seven-year-old to be none the worse on Monday morning, but admits he could be entering the last-chance saloon as far as his chasing career is concerned.
“He’s absolutely fine, the writing was on the wall very early. He got into no rhythm and jumped very ordinary and after he jumped two or three (fences) he was in awful trouble,” he said.
“We’ll put a line through that and give him another run over fences in three or four weeks’ time, but I’m not sure where yet. I have toyed with the idea of going back over hurdles and if things don’t got to plan the next day he’ll be reverting back to smaller obstacles.”
While Thunder Rock’s class shone through in a four-runner race at Carlisle last month, Murphy feels the hustle and bustle of a big-field handicap is perhaps not his bag.
He added: “He’s not very big and while I didn’t think he’d do what he did on Saturday, it’s not the biggest surprise to me.
“We’ll dust ourselves down, get him back in full work and see what’s what, but his performance wasn’t a reflection of his ability or his health or anything like that. He just didn’t jump with any fluency and when you do that in those big handicaps you’re on the back foot straight away.
“When you have a long-term plan like that and you can see it’s not working out from an early stage it’s extremely frustrating, but that’s horses and we know he hasn’t lost his ability overnight.”
Murphy did enjoy better fortune at Cheltenham on Friday, with Go Dante providing his owner Barbara Hester with a first winner at Prestbury Park.
The seven-year-old retains the option of turning out quickly for the £150,000 Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot on Saturday after being left in at the confirmation stage, but he appears unlikely to line up.
“We’ll see what the handicapper does (on Tuesday), but I’d it’s unlikely,” said the trainer.
“He came out of Saturday well. I’d say it’s very unlikely he’ll run again this weekend, but if you’re not in you can’t win.”
John ‘Shark’ Hanlon and his son Paddy Hanlon have their sights set on another successful raid on Tuesday when they head to Catterick in search of another special day for the family.
The popular trainer is a regular visitor to UK tracks but now has extra incentive for his forays across the Irish Sea as his young son attempts to forge his own riding career.
The 16-year-old is 0-23 in bumpers in Ireland but has made a blistering start to things in the UK, partnering Chef D’Etat to victory at Worcester in the summer before striking in his first ride over obstacles at Bangor last week.
Hanlon has never been shy in giving young jockeys an opportunity and helped nurture the early stages of Rachael Blackmore’s career, while most recently he has entrusted young Jordan Gainford with the keys to star chaser Hewick.
Now he is taking great pride in legging up his own flesh and blood as licensing restrictions in Ireland mean Hanlon junior could become a familiar sight on a British racecourse over the next year.
“It’s different and your heart would be in your mouth. But he knows nothing else and doesn’t want to know anything other than horses, horses, horses,” said Hanlon when asked how it felt watching his son in action.
“In Ireland you have to be 17 before you can get a license to ride over hurdles or in point-to-points.
“He rode a point-to-point horse the other day and finished third and the horse he rode at Bangor was his first ride over hurdles. It was great how it has worked out.
“He won’t be 17 until June and he is just tipping away and getting a few rides over there (in the UK).”
Hanlon is yet to finish outside of the first two in three UK rides and it was somewhat a family affair when the youngster steered his father’s Mullins Cross to a nine-length victory at Bangor last Friday, giving all connected a day which will live long in the memory.
“It was great the other day because we bred the filly ourselves,” continued Hanlon.
“Paddy’s grandfather stood the sire Valirann, my wife bred him and it ran in her colours and I trained it. His younger brother led him up and we were all there, so it was a great day, fabulous.”
Mullins Cross will be in action again in North Yorkshire, with Brian Hughes handed riding duties on this occasion, but the trainer’s son will seek further glory aboard the family-owned Dragon Rock and confidence is high ahead of the Download Raceday Ready Today Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.
The teenager may then need to spread his wings for further opportunities as the season goes on, but his father is optimistic that plenty of chances to hone his skills in the saddle will come his way throughout the winter.
“He has a right nice ride there tomorrow and then might not have much for a while because I have very little to go over with,” continued Hanlon.
“He has his feet on the ground and hopefully a few other trainers might use him.
“I’ve had a couple of phone calls from trainers wanting to take him on so it will be interesting.
“The horse in the boys’ race tomorrow will have a right chance and the filly he rode last week will have a right chance as well. The two rode out this morning and are in good form.”
John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has confirmed star chaser Hewick will line up in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on Boxing Day – but is on the hunt for a new jockey, with regular rider Jordan Gainford out injured.
Some of Hewick’s finest hours have come in the hands of Gainford, who has formed a brilliant association with the eight-year-old and was in the saddle when the duo tasted American Grand National glory in 2022.
However, he has missed out on Hewick’s last three outings through injury and, although Hanlon is adamant the ride remains Gainford’s when fit, the young pilot once again faces a spell on the sidelines following an injury suffered at Naas last week.
“Hewick goes to Kempton for the King George, we’ve made up our minds this morning,” said Hanlon.
“We don’t know who is riding him yet, as Jordan Gainford got hurt, but we will wait and see.
“Jordan won’t be back in time, but hopefully he will come back all right, he got a bad fall. I was talking to him and he was happy and I told him Hewick will be his ride whenever he comes back, but he won’t be there for Kempton.
“We will just have to work out who will be there and who won’t be there and I have a few names at the top of my head, but we will have to wait and see.”
James Owen’s Burdett Road is on track for his Coral Finale Juvenile Hurdle bid at Chepstow after his Cheltenham form received a significant boost on Saturday.
The three-year-old was formerly trained on the Flat by both Roger Varian and Michael Bell, notably taking the Golden Gates Stakes at Royal Ascot in June for the latter.
His final run on the level was a third-placed effort in the Group Three Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor in late August, after which he was gelded and sent to Owen for a juvenile hurdling campaign.
At Huntingdon in November, he was an instant success in his new career, taking a two-mile contest by an effortless 12 lengths, with the whole field strung out behind him.
Burdett Road was then stepped markedly up in level for the Grade Two JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham later the same month and was an impressive winner again under Harry Cobden, accelerating up the hill to secure a six-and-a-half-length victory over Jack Jones’ An Bradan Feasa.
Burdett Road became the Triumph Hurdle favourite as a result of that win, whereas Jones began to eye the Fred Winter for his well-regarded runner-up.
Both of those aspirations began to take shape at the weekend, as An Bradan Feasa returned to Cheltenham to contest a class two edition of the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle series and prevailed by three lengths.
Owen was pleased to see the prior Prestbury Park form boosted and intends to press on with his plan of running Burdett Road in the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow on December 27, a Grade Two in which the Gredley family have been successful before with another former Flat horse in Allmankind.
“He’s really good, I’m very happy with him,” said Owen. “He’s been training well and I was really pleased to see the horse he beat win his trial at Cheltenham at the weekend.
“It was nice and Burdett Road has trained very well himself at home since, he’s schooled well and the plan is to go to the Finale on the 27th (of December) at Chepstow – all being well.
“If the ground was really deep, we might think differently, but that’s the plan at the moment.
“He had a busy enough Flat campaign, so I’d say he’d only have one more run before Cheltenham, hopefully that’ll be at Chepstow. We want to go to Cheltenham with a fresh horse.
“That’s the route Tim and Mr (Bill) Gredley want to go, that’s the route they went with Allmankind.
“I know it’s a Grade Two now but it’s still good prize money and if we didn’t end up going there, we’d probably end up going back to Cheltenham for the trials day during January.”
Champ is poised to make his reappearance in the Howden Long Walk Hurdle after featuring among the 10 confirmations for this weekend’s Ascot showpiece.
The Nicky Henderson-trained 11-year-old was the Long Walk champion in 2021 which was the last time the race was held at its traditional home of Ascot, but he had to settle for third when the race was rearranged for Kempton’s Boxing Day card 12 months ago.
The Cheltenham Festival scorer was last seen finishing a well-held fifth at Aintree in the spring but is reported to be in good heart ahead of his belated return to the track.
“He’s a great old horse, Nicky is happy with him and the plan is, all being well, to go there,” said owner JP McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry.
“He runs well fresh so you would hope he would run well.
“He enjoys Ascot and has run some good races around there and Nicky is happy with him at the minute.”
Last year’s race went to Emma Lavelle’s Paisley Park who has been something of a permanent feature in the Grade One contest in recent years, now seeking a fourth victory.
That would make the popular 11-year-old the joint most successful horse in the race’s history, tied with the great French raider Baracouda in the record books.
Paisley Park showed the fire still burned brightly when a fast-finishing second to Jeremy Scott’s Stayers’ Hurdle runner-up Dashel Drasher in Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle and the duo will do battle once again.
Meanwhile, it was Botox Has who got the better of Dashel Drasher at Wetherby before that and he is one of two in the race for Gary Moore alongside the enigmatic Goshen.
Paul Nicholls’ recent course winner Blueking d’Oroux is two from two at Ascot and will step up in trip attempting to continue his fine start to the current campaign, while Dan Skelton’s West Balboa is another on a steep upwards curve and throws her hat into the mix having impressed at Aintree on her return last month.
Marie’s Rock is one of the more notable names missing from the list of possibles, with owners Middleham Park Racing relying on the second Ditcheat candidate, Red Risk.
Fergal O’Brien’s Crambo and Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Gowel Road are the others that remain in contention.
In a strategic move by GIANTS Netball, the team has successfully secured the talents of Jamaica’s Jodi-Ann Ward, touted as the league's best goal defense, after Collingwood admitted the failure of its netball program, leading to the cessation of Magpies' operations at the close of the 2023 Super Netball season.
Ward, who dazzled in black and white for Collingwood, will now sport the orange and charcoal colors of the GIANTS, having inked a long-term deal that will keep her in Sydney until at least the conclusion of 2026.
The 178cm Jamaican defender, recognized for her exceptional versatility and athleticism, particularly in goal defense, joins the GIANTS following a stellar season with the Magpies. Her outstanding performance, featuring 40 intercepts, 66 deflections, and 16 rebounds, earned her a well-deserved spot in the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year.
Ward, a Sunshine Girl representing Jamaica since 2017, played a pivotal role in her nation's rise on the world netball stage, securing a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Her prowess extends beyond goal defense, as she seamlessly transitions between wing defense and goal keeper when required.
Expressing her sentiments on the transition, Ward acknowledged the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Collingwood's folding but expressed excitement about joining the competitive GIANTS.
“It is extremely disappointing to see how things ended with Collingwood and the timing of it, but change is good sometimes. GIANTS are a very competitive team, and I love a team that fights to the end."
Known for her aggressive and attacking style of defense, Ward brings a unique set of skills to the GIANTS, including her long arms and impressive vertical elevation. She emphasized her commitment to fostering a strong team dynamic, ensuring her teammates feel supported on and off the court.
"My goal is to always ensure that whoever I’m on court with at any time feels comfortable and protected knowing that I’ve got their back in any situation, especially as you develop new combinations or introduce younger players.”
GIANTS Head Coach Julie Fitzgerald expressed her enthusiasm about the newest addition to the team, citing Ward's exciting playing style and significant contributions during the previous season with Collingwood and Jamaica.
“She is such an exciting player, and I can’t wait to inject her into our lineup. After losing April (Brandley) to retirement at the end of the season, we knew we needed to bolster our defensive end with experience, and we thought Jodi-Ann would be a perfect fit for many reasons."
Ward becomes the ninth player to sign with the GIANTS for the 2024 season, joining both new and returning talents, as the team aims for a successful and competitive campaign.
After a challenging two-season hiatus due to a debilitating knee injury, three-time NSW Swifts MVP, Samantha Wallace, is set to make a triumphant comeback for the 2024 Suncorp Super Netball season. The Trinidad & Tobago attacker, who underwent knee reconstruction following an injury in Round 1 of the Swifts' 2022 campaign, has persevered through a rigorous recovery process and is eager to rejoin the competitive arena.
As a Grand Final MVP in 2019, Wallace played a pivotal role in securing two Swifts Premiership titles (2019 & 2021) and has proudly represented her home country at two World Cups and the Commonwealth Games.
Before her injury in 2022, Wallace notched up an impressive 77 appearances for the Swifts over five seasons, earning a reputation as one of the game's finest and most entertaining shooters, both under the post and from range.
Head coach Briony Akle acknowledged the emotional significance of Wallace's return, emphasizing the challenges of recovering from complex knee injuries. Briony expressed confidence in Wallace's potential to reclaim her status as the premier goal shooter in the game, praising her proven ability at the highest level.
“Having had so much heartache over the past two seasons, I know it will be an extra-special moment when Sammy steps on court in front of our home fans for the first time. She has a proven ability at this level, and I think she can be the greatest goal shooter in our game again,” Akle said.
Wallace herself expressed her gratitude for the support she received during her recovery, acknowledging the moments of doubt and the resilience of the Swifts community.
“I’m not gonna lie, there were times when I thought it may have been the end for me, but so many people at the Swifts helped me through, and I will be grateful to them forever.”
Despite being unable to play in the past two seasons, Wallace always felt a part of the Club, crediting the kindness of the medical staff and the unwavering support of teammates, coaches, and fans.
“Even though I wasn’t able to play over the past two seasons, I always felt part of the Club, both on game day and in the community, and the medical staff who looked after me were so kind.”
Reflecting on the last full game she played in the 2021 Grand Final win, Wallace sees it as a motivating force, driving her determination to return to peak performance.
“Before getting injured, the last full game I played was the 2021 Grand Final win, and that happy memory is a driving force for me.”
While acknowledging the challenges posed by formidable opponents, Wallace is confident in her understanding of the game's fundamentals and her ability to contribute strategically.
“I know it won’t be easy because there are so many brilliant players that you come up against, but the basics of the game, and how to read it, have not changed. I want my smarts to help me while I get up to speed.”
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