Upon arriving at the Gold Netball Centre in January, Kelsey reflects on a whirlwind six months following the disbandment of the Collingwood Magpies.
The 18 Test Diamond announced she wasn’t going to play in the Suncorp Super Netball League via social media at the conclusion of her Magpies’ tenure, only for Ryan to give her a call later that day asking; “how done are you?”
“It’s been a pretty crazy experience as I’d obviously put out about 10 hours before that I was potentially stepping away from Netball,’ she said.
“I spoke to Dan and I was like ‘I don’t want to come in and try to fill the shoes of Verity Simmons, I don’t think anyone would be able to do that.’
“But I think the opportunity and how it came about was really exciting and I couldn’t be happier to be here.”
When asked about her first few weeks of pre-season, the two-time SSN premiership player said she can now see why West Coast Fever have been so successful in recent years.
“You can see those standards and the expectations of what is required of you as a Fever athlete,” she said.
“I’m not surprised at all that they’ve been successful.”
She said her priority over the next couple of weeks was getting to know her place in the side.
“For me, it’s just about inserting myself where I need to be and really embracing whatever role we have to play in the group,” she said.
“It’s just about getting clarity on my role in the team. I’ll probably be playing a little bit of a different position.”
Kelsey said there were some difficult sacrifices she had to make before deciding to make the move over to the West.
“I’ve left my puppy at home, my family with my sister about to have a baby, so there were some considerations,” she said.
“But at the end of the day being involved in an elite sporting environment and having the chance to go for another premiership and be involved in a new club is something that I ran towards.
“Whenever someone offers you with an opportunity to be involved in a high-performance environment, it’s a relatively easy decision.”
Catch Kelsey Browne and West Coast Fever in action this season at RAC Arena. Fever Memberships on sale now.
By Tom Shanahan
