By Sophie Taylor
When 68-cap New Zealand Silver Fern Gina Crampton signed with GIANTS Netball as a training partner, jaws dropped.
Stacked with international talent, including Ferns teammate Sam Winders, fans had to wonder how the addition of Crampton had happened – and how she had missed out on the main list.
But none were more surprised than Crampton herself, who had intended on a year away from the sport entirely before an opportunity opened up in Australia.
“I was intending on being in New York for the year because my partner had been playing rugby over there for the last three years and it was going to be his fourth season over there with Rugby New York, but they lost their main investor around Christmas time and the team folded,” Crampton explained.
“So it was pretty disappointing and sad, especially for him, but then we were sort of left with, well, what should we do? Should we stay at home? Or should we go somewhere else?
“Then Sydney kind of popped into our heads and we thought, why not just give it a crack now, while we're not tied down to home fully? It sort of seemed like a really good spot for us to go and see what presented itself to us.
“So we took the plunge and ended up here!”
And so the move to Sydney arrived.
Things fell into place quickly following a chat with former ANZ Premiership players and friends, Elle Temu and Jamie Hume, who had also relocated to Sydney.
Crampton and Temu are training partners for rival NSW Suncorp Super Netball clubs this season.“Two good friends, Jamie and Elle, were playing for (NSW state league team) South West Mounties MAGIC and they were like we need a midcourter, why don't you just play?”
Crampton’s thought of “that would be fun” eventually turned into a prompt from head coach Virginia Welsh to contact GIANTS head coach Julie Fitzgerald.
“I was kinda like, oh gosh Gina. Just give it a go, yeah, why not?,” she said.
From there, the cogs kept turning. While Fitzgerald had already signed her contracted 10 for the season, the GIANTS had space for an additional training partner to join the ranks – something Crampton said took some adjusting, considering her range of experience.
“There's a part of me that's like, oh man, I want to play, but I'm understanding that I'm there to soak it all up and I guess learn, which is really cool, and also give any little bits of insight that I can to the group,” she said.
“In all honesty, it's a bit of a weird situation. I can totally sympathise now with all the training partners that have been in teams I've been in before because you do basically everything with the team, but then you remember that you're not actually in the team.
“So yeah, that's an interesting one for anyone, no matter what sort of stage of the career they’re in, but I've really, really enjoyed it.”
Crampton brings plenty of international netball nous to the GIANTS.With years of international experience, including a Silver Ferns captaincy stint across 2021 and 2022, Crampton offers an extra competitive edge to the GIANTS’ training environment.
“It’s hard to say (I bring) experience because there's a lot of experienced players at the GIANTS, but I do have a little bit of input in when I feel that I can actually give something,” she said.
“I'm a good communicator, so if I get opportunities on court, I sort of like to organise the unit and... I haven't felt worried to do that, which has been really nice.
“It’s a credit to the culture and facilities the GIANTS have as well."
Crampton praised the GIANTS’ facilities and the team's focus on agility, footwork and speed which are things she admits, she enjoys.
“The intensity and the skill level overall is a lot higher. Obviously we have skilled players at home for sure, but I think in terms of like the whole Giants GIANTS team, everybody's that step up.
“It's been an intense first few weeks, that's for sure."
