Former Australian international Nicole Richardson will remain on the City West Falcons coaching staff, despite taking on a specialist role with Perth-based West Coast Fever for the upcoming ANZ Championship netball season.
‘Richo’, as she is known around the club, has been an integral part of the success of the Falcons in the Victorian Netball League, helping develop some of the players who have gone on to feature in the Trans-Tasman competition, along with the implementation of game plans and culture.
The 45-year-old, a one-time dual sport international in netball and softball, was offered a full time assistant coaching role with the Adelaide Thunderbirds, but declined in favour of a part-time job with the Fever, in order to remain based in Melbourne.
It is a definite win for the Falcons.
“It’s just a fly in, fly out role in Perth,” Richardson told Star Weekly. “I got an opportunity with the Thunderbirds, but they wanted somebody to be a full time assistant coach, which would’ve required me to move over to Adelaide and I wasn’t really interested in moving interstate.
“I’ll only miss about two VNL games and that’s it, so it actually works quite well with the schedule. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
Richardson is keen to get experience in the ANZ Championship with potential of working at one of the proposed expansion clubs.
The 10-team competition is looking to add new teams with potential of a second side in Melbourne to rival the Vixens.
“They’re looking at an additional three Australian based teams and one of those may be based in Melbourne,” Richardson said. “If I want to put my hand up for a gig like that, I need to ensure that I have coaching experience at that level behind me.
“When the WA offer came up, it’s one that I grabbed.”
City West hit the court for the start of their annual preseason tournament last Wednesday.
The Falcons had played some practice matches against the Victorian state men’s team, but this was the first chance for coach Marg Lind to see her squad against VNL opposition.
“For us, it’s about getting the players out on court and testing our combinations and our structures and strategies,” Richardson said. “We’re not overly concerned about results at the moment.”
For the record, the Falcons split their opening night results, losing to the Southern Saints 29-28 in game one, followed by a 35-22 win over Monash University Storm.
The Falcons have an injury concern out of the opening night with Jacqui Newton rolling her ankle against the Saints.
It was a big night for Anger Akek, who is believed to be the first Sudanese born player to feature in VNL competition.
Akek, who lives in Werribee, landed with the Falcons on a scholarship through the Altona Netball Association.
She acquitted herself well in the mid-court.
“We offer a scholarship to those players we believe have future potential to be a Falcon, so it’s a really exciting opportunity for her,” Richardson said. “She’s very athletic, well conditioned and she put in an impressive performance out on the court.
“Once she gets confident on court and within that environment, we’ll really see her grow and develop into a really good athlete out there. She’s improved in the Falcons environment in the past three months of preseason.”
The Falcons will face Peninsula Waves and ACU Sovereigns on night two of the preseason tournament at the State Netball and Hockey Centre tonight.
