By Matt Fotia
After seven successful seasons with the Sunshine Coast Lightning, former Diamond Laura Scherian found herself back in the netballing wilderness.
She was without a contract and the Suncorp Super Netball signing window was ending.
The crafty midcourter was set to step out of the professional netball circle with over 100 national league games, two premierships and a handful of international caps under her belt.
Her netballing days were over.
But then the reigning premiers picked up the phone and Scherian’s career was back on track, with a different team and in a different city.
“I had this feeling of being excited but also petrified at the same time,” Scherian said.
“I hadn’t been the new person for a long time in any aspect of my life.
“At this stage of my career you don’t often get to feel those emotions that strongly and at the same time.
“Sometimes a forced change and a challenge is what you need to grow as an athlete and a person.”
The move down South has been a good one redefining the way she plays and approaches her netball.
“The experience is really refreshing, everything’s new, everything’s exciting and different,” Scherian explained.
“Even being in a different location has changed the way I’ve looked at netball this year and it’s changed the way I’ve been playing.”
Scherian was intent on being flexible when she arrived at the Thunderbirds, aware she needed to fit into a strongly defined and successful system.
So far, so good, with the midcourt veteran loving life with the 2023 premiers on and off the court.
“(Dame) Noeline Taura once said to me, a team is put together like a puzzle, and you’ve got to find out where you piece fits and how the other pieces work with you,” said Scherian.
“There are so many different aspects you can use of yourself, so many different skills that you can bring, that you might not have used in one team, but you can use it with another.
“It’s a great culture that they’ve built here over the years and whilst on paper they’re young, they’ve done a lot and experienced a lot in their short careers.
“They’re great people and I’m loving being a part of it.”
The move to the Thunderbirds has ignited a new wave of enthusiasm for the game Scherian has devoted her whole adult life to.
“Netball is netball, but the way the coaches coach and the way the other players interact with each other makes it different,” she said.
“Experiencing different players and different coaches makes it so exciting.
“It’s definitely changed the way I think about the game defensively.
“The Thunderbirds defence is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and I really enjoy playing my role in that as well.”
Scherian’s role with the Thunderbirds was defined from the start. On court she would provide cover across the wing attack and centre positions, and off court she would provide a very specific type of experience.
“They were very direct with what they wanted from me,” Scherian said.
“Experience was one of things I could bring, the fact I’ve been involved in back-to-back championships was massive.
“Covering across wing attack and centre, having the flexibility to help out in either of those roles, being a little bit of a different mid court player to what they had and creating a different dynamic and combinations was spoken about as well.”
Scherian has loved being a part of the Thunderbirds set up in 2024.Scherian has held up her end of the bargain, appearing in all 14 of the Thunderbirds games in 2024, averaging over 7 assists and 13 feeds per game from limited minutes, as Adelaide surged home to clinch the minor premiership with six straight wins to finish the home and away season.
Scherian, who has played the most SSN games of anyone still active in the competition (121 equal with Kate Moloney and Sarah Klau), knows that the job is nowhere near finished.
“The exciting thing about this year’s finals series is that there’s four very different teams,” Scherian said.
“Strategy could be what separates the teams.
“Everyone is extremely skilled, extremely fit and has very different attributes, so it will be about how we can combat that as a group.”
The Thunderbirds host the Major Semi Final this Saturday, taking on the Melbourne Vixens, who they defeated comfortably in Round 12.
“Vixens have that moving shooting end, they move the ball fast, they’re quick and direct with the ball, they don’t cough it up and they’re very structured in their approach to the game,” Scherian said.
“If you get ball off them, you’ve got to convert it.”
Personally, Scherian is beyond grateful for the chance to take part in a final series once again, as she eyes a third SSN premiership.
“The first five years with the Lightning we were in finals, the first three years in grand finals,” she said.
“Being in the position we are reminds me of those feelings and brings back amazing emotions of being in that space going into the finals, and I am pumped for them.”
