Whittlesea’s Tara Watson would have never predicted how she would make her Suncorp Super Netball debut.
A training partner for the first time this season with the Melbourne Vixens, Watson has sat on the bench for a number of weeks as a replacement for the injured Hannah Mundy.
The call to take the court finally came on Sunday, in a preliminary final no less.
While the game would always be special for Watson, it is a match that will go down in folklore.
The Vixens came from 10 points down at the three quarter time to win by one, 66-65, to secure a grand final spot.
Watson said being such a big game, she wasn’t expecting to get on the court.
“It’s pretty surreal, I never dreamt the game to be the way it was,” she said. “It was super special to be part of it with the other girls around me so supportive on and off the court.
“I didn’t think it would be then, but it was a different story. I wanted to continue to be confident.”
Watson was on the bench in the second quarter when assistant coach Di Honey told her she would be going on in wing attack.
A quick time out gave her a minute for it all to settle in before the debut came with the side that she had grown up supporting.
“The girls got around me,” she said. “I was shaking and so nervous.
“I wanted to take the opportunity when it came and get up to do the best I could … I was playing alongside some of my idols.
“I was pretty happy with how I played out there, but there’s still a couple of things to work on.”
Watson finished with three goal assists and four feeds in her short period on court.
Speaking on Tuesday, the North East Blaze midcourter said the match and the outcome was yet to sink in.
“It’s so special and it was so crazy,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve been part of a special game like that.
“In the last quarter, I can’t remember [what I was thinking]. I just knew they would get it done and believed in them.
“I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t watch and then I watched and I was screaming and yelling, and so excited to see them take control of the game.”
The group was back at training on Tuesday with Watson saying it made it all feel a little bit more real they were playing in a grand final.
The grand final will be played on Saturday night in what the Vixens will be hoping is a big crowd in their home state.
Watson said all her family had tickets and they were hoping the fans would help get them over the line.
The West Coast Fever, which is the form team of the competition, await them.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Watson said. “We have a few things to work on.”
And if Watson was to get on the court in the grand final?
“It would be another dream come true,” she said. “It would be unreal playing at Rod Laver and with my family there, the supporters there.
“I would just have so much fun.”
