There is a part of Renae Ingles that would love to keep playing elite netball forever, but something else, something stronger, that has convinced her that the right time to finish is now.
Ingles’ career will end whenever the Melbourne Vixens’ season does, the champion wing defence and mother-of-twins having been coaxed from retirement in mid-2018 to replace the pregnant Chloe Watson, then extended the cameo into one last, full year.
What was already a tough family juggle that spanned the Pacific Ocean grew even more challenging with the diagnosis in January of son Jacob’s autism, and confirmed what Ingles had known when she extended her surprise comeback at the club where it all started.
That after 2019, her original home was where it would all end, too,
“I already knew, but (Jacob’s condition) is just another reason as to why I think it’s best that I’m with the kids and family full-time,’’ says Ingles, whose husband Joe plays for NBA club Utah Jazz and Australia’s Boomers.
“I’ve retired once before and I really, really enjoyed getting out on the court to play last year, and I was keen to sign for this year, but I knew as soon as I signed that this was going to be my last year.’’
Australian coaching legend Joyce Brown still recalls the first one - and meeting a 15-year-old Melbourne Phoenix training partner who arrived with a fine reputation from the outer-eastern suburbs via the state junior pathways.
“I saw natural elevation, lovely free-flowing movement, and a terrific competitor, so that’s what attracts you,’’ says Brown, who was also taken by the direct gaze, ready smile and willingness to listen and learn.
“Even when I go to (Vixens’) training now as patron and old lady Renae is so respectful. She’s just a beautiful person, really.’’
On the court, Brown ranks the World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medallist behind only Simone McKinnis, currently in charge at the Vixens, among the great Australian wing defences she has coached.
“She’s been one of the best. She’s the closest I’ve seen to Simone,’’ says Brown. “Renae covers spaces that force the thrower to put the ball really into a space where our (circle) defenders behind her have got a hope - while she still manages picking up her wing attack.
“Her ball handling skills are so superb, and when she gets the ball through the middle I am always relieved, because I know she’s going to get it to one of ours. Whereas sometimes I hold my breath on one or two others, I think ‘thank God it’s Renae’.’’
There has been nothing accidental about her success, though, during a celebrated career that included six seasons with the Adelaide Thunderbirds. If three-year-old “Twingles” Jacob and Milla ask their mum one day what sort of player she was, they will hear she was proudly team-first and that even when she was outplayed, she was determined never to be outworked.
Former teammate, now Vixens’ assistant coach Sharelle McMahon, believes that trademark dedication will be part of a fine legacy. “We’ve seen so many different types of ... wing defences over the years, but she was one that absolutely did the work and made it incredibly difficult for the wing attack to even get the ball, and, when they finally did, to release it over those long arms of hers.’’
Ingles’ perfectionist streak ran deep and long, and McMahon describes as a “wonderful thing to watch” her evolution into a 33-year-old who can admit she would like to tell her younger self not to sweat the small things quite so much.
Brown noted that even the teenaged Renae Hallinan, as she was then, was so driven that she put herself under enormous pressure to succeed and achieve - with Brown equally certain that her teams, including the Diamonds, should be grateful she did.
Yet if the awards and medals are something to be treasured, but perhaps more appreciated later in life, then Ingles ranks her return to the court as a mother as her greatest achievement. She is different now, by necessity, certain that her on-court business is truly finished this time, and having learnt and experienced so much.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I wanted to have every little thing right and I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned and wanted to have everything perfect in the lead-up to games, but I think just now being a parent it’s just a different perspective and not everything has to go right,'' says the 67-Test veteran of 17 domestic seasons, who has one game and at least one Suncorp Super Netball final remaining.
“You know what? Maybe my preparation’s better if everything doesn’t go right! But at the end of the day now I just walk out from that huddle, walk across that white line, and it doesn’t actually matter what happens that week, it’s ‘all right, I’m here, I’m going to give my best performance for the team’.’’
Of course she is. Always has. Will be missed.
