Former England manager Tracey Neville has warned Gracie Smith and Sophie Kelly are likely to miss out on England’s Commonwealth Games squad despite their outstanding netball Super League seasons.
speaking about off the court In the podcast, Neville lamented the difficulties of including inexperienced players such as Smith and Kelly in the squad, citing competition for places and logistics as the main obstacles to their inclusion.
“After about three or four months you have to have a long list of 18 to 22 players, which is actually quite scary because there is a risk of injury,” Neville said.
Gracie Smith has been outstanding for the London Pulse in the Netball Super League.
“And at the Commonwealth Games you can’t replace injuries like you can at the World Cup.
“And secondly, if people like Sophie Kelly and Gracie Smith weren’t in the program full-time, I wouldn’t have time to meet them.
“By the way, looking at someone who is truly outstanding like Smith, it was really unusual for that center to work. But now, from my perspective, I was on the roster a while ago.
“In reality, she has no chance of competing in the Commonwealth Games whatsoever, regardless of her performance.”
Gracie Smith’s London Pulse celebrate with their trophy after winning the Netball Super League Grand Final.
Even without the logistical difficulties faced with pre-Olympic squad selection, Neville believes midcourt competition will be too strong for budding stars like Smith to get playing time.
“I also look at who I might drop to Gracie Smith.
“I actually wrote down 18 or 20 names and my midcourt right now, based on what’s happened before, what we’ve learned is people like Amy Carter. Should I drop her? No. Imogen Allison? No. Beth Givhan, Jess Shaw, Nat Metcalf, Alicia Scholes…
“I wouldn’t have dropped any of that for Gracie Smith, even though she’s having the most unbelievable season.
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Speaking on the Off the Court podcast, Tamsin Greenway suggests that increasing squad size could reduce the number of injuries in Super League.
“In some ways, people have to respect that these decisions have to be made very early, but they also have to be made based on what has happened before.
“And that’s something that’s really hard to get your head around as a fan because potentially these rules aren’t available to the public. It’s a long-term plan, isn’t it? Grace is just another example.
“There are so many U21 players who are having great seasons or could be the future of netball.”
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