By Tara Murray
Whittlesea’s Tara Watson has been named the Melbourne Vixens 11th player for the rest of the Suncorp Super Netball season.
Watson was named a training partner for the Vixens late last year and has been training with the side throughout the pre-season and season.
The eleventh player rule, introduced in 2024, allows clubs to sign an additional athlete who can be strategically rotated into match-day squads beyond just injury cover.
Watson said she was grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s an exciting next step for me and I feel like I’ve learned so much being part of the group already,” she said.
“It’s amazing to be part of a team with so much experience all over the court. I know my game is growing every week, being able to challenge myself against the best.
“It’s also really special to be welcomed into a club with so much history and success, so I’m really soaking it up and can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds.”
Watson has been part of the Victorian pathways since 2021 and has made every junior state team and was part of the Vixens reserves squad last season.
Watson, a defensive mid-courter known for her grit and reliability, also captained Whittlesea’s Secondary College’s senior girls team to a third-place state finish last year.
The Vixens said that Watson has impressed with her efforts across the pre-season, taking the court in numerous pre-season matches including at the Team Girls Cup tournament in Adelaide in March.
“Tara’s shown a great work ethic and appetite to learn,” said Vixens high performance and pathways general manager Sharelle McMahon.
“This is a fantastic step in her development.”
Watson told Star Weekly last year after being named a training partner, it wasn’t something that she had expected.
“I had been contacted by Di Honey, the assistant coach at the Vixens, to organise a meeting just to talk about my future sort of thing,” she said.
“I didn’t think much of it cause I was part of the reserves program this year so I thought that was what it might have been about.
“Then she let me know that they had an opportunity to be a training partner.”
She said the opportunity to train with some of her idols was pretty amazing.
Watson was in action on Sunday as the Vixens reserves side kicked off its campaign.
