Jess Thirlby- England Netball Head Coach on the challenges awaiting England at the Commonwealth Games

Reigning Commonwealth Games champions England enter the defence of their netball title with head coach Jess Thirlby saying that the girls are really excited and can’t wait to get things going. And feels that the squad she has picked has the perfect balance.

The Vitality Roses start off their campaign against Trinidad and Tobago next Friday in Birmingham and Thirlby has picked a squad of experienced players along with some inexperienced talent- five commonwealth games debutants.

She said “ My selection wasn’t driven just by selecting experienced players. I think over the last two years in particular, we’ve nurtured and uncovered more talent, some that was maybe there or there abouts from the 20198 world cup that just missed out on selection, and I think we have done a really great job of providing multiple opportunities on that stage in spite of covid, which has allowed people to really flourish.”

England will go into the games as reigning champions which will bring even more pressure top the team, but Thirlby is fully aware of the challenges ahead.

  “ Across any sport and England team and even world wide very few teams have repeated their success or are able to achieve it and back it up, so I guess that has been quiet a driving force for me since getting the job back in 2019, it excites me to be able to work with the generation of Roses players. I go to bed at night and genuinely believe we are on the cusp of something really special, not just in the short term of this commonwealth games but over the next four to eight years I believe we have got a generation of Roses players who know nothing but the success of 2018 and are keen to put their own d and a on the future of this programme for the future of this team. We are going to give it our best shot. Everyone talks about pressure. The journeys always new and of course our intentions are always to perform at our best on the biggest stage, but the bit we can’t control is how good our opposition will be and how well they will arrive at the starting line.

I feel the most important thing for us is that we get her well prepared, we have done everything we can during covid, probably more than our biggest rivals. Ultimately we just want to be really competitive and we want these performances to be the best ones we have put out so far. The group are looking good they are tracking really well. We have built some great momentum over the past twelve months, so hopefully we can not only defend this title but earn it but at the moment it belongs to nobody so we will give it our best shot.”

Serena Guthries retirement has meant a new captain will be leading the side in Birmingham. Thirlby has elected to go with Nat Metcalf.

“I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to leadership with the quality and calibre across this group. In the past we have lent upon a couple of real standout players to get us through big moments and for me you can’t survive like that once you have got a place around that top table and that’s where I feel we are now. We have played about with our leadership group. Nat has always acted as a vice captain, a co-captain, she has captained the team prior to Serina so  think it felt like a reward to her for the contributions that she makes. She is the ultimate role model in terms of what she does on a training court and on to her performances. But I look around the court and I really am spoilt for choices for leadership, but for me Nat was a seamless transition, she’s worked closely with Serina so they have definitely built a real strength as a leadership team.”

Thirlby admitted that everybody just can’t wait until the games start and is very excited.

“We’ve kind of been in our own bubble this past few weeks. We have been overseas to South Africa with our heads down and training hard. Being part of this Team England is really special. When we walk in to hopefully the first full stadium for our opening match I don’t think anything can quiet prepare you for that, but it’s really exciting. This team I know are really committed to embracing that home environment and connecting to our fans will be so special.”

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