Melbourne Vixens new recruit Elissa Macleod will captain the Australian Fast5 Diamonds for this weekend’s Fast5 Netball World Series tournament at Vector Arena in Auckland.
The oldest player in the Australian Fast5 team at 28-years-old, Macleod will lead the 10-player team into the six-nation tournament that features modified rules.
“It wasn’t a hard decision, but she was a little bit surprised,” Australian Fast5 Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander said.
“Our leaders need to be very good communicators and demonstrate a commitment to high performance behaviours; she’s done that, she speaks very well and understands what excellence is all about on and off the court.
“We’re very keen on her having an influence over our group. She knows what the team needs to step up to that next level and she’s an excellent role model.”
The Victorian native has enjoyed a successful return to netball since 2010 after taking a two-year sabbatical from the sport following two seasons with Team Northumbria in the United Kingdom’s National League (2007-08).
Since returning to netball, Macleod won an Australian Netball League premiership with the Victorian Fury before going on to win an ANZ Championship premiership with the undefeated Queensland Firebirds in her debut season in 2011.
Macleod, an invitee to the Australian Diamonds squad camp this year, can expect a new role on court to go with the captaincy as Alexander prepares to experiment with her shooting combinations.
The three-day tournament will only see five players take to the court instead of the traditional seven with the elimination of the wing attack and wing defence positions, a move that is likely to see Macleod both feeding and shooting.
“We’ve only got one traditional goal attack in Amorette Wild, it’s more likely that we’re going to use Elissa Macleod or Verity Simmons or Shae Bolton in that goal attack position,” Alexander said.
“They can all shoot from the three point zones so we’ll give them that license to do so when appropriate and we know that they’ll feed our shooters really well.”
The 2012 Fast5 Netball World Series can be seen live on FOX SPORTS 2 from 2.30pm Friday, 11am Saturday and 11am Sunday. The games will also be broadcast online via Telstra BigPond Sport TV.
