‘Really emotional’: Diamond’s relay path to Games debut
Joanna Guelas |
When Georgie Horjus got the call informing her of Commonwealth Games selection, the Diamonds midcourter immediately thought of her 16-year-old self.
It was 2018, and Horjus was living in a town of less than 200 people on Kangaroo Island when she and brother Nick took part in the Queen’s baton relay for the Gold Coast Games.
Three Super Netball premierships and 11 caps for the Diamonds later, the 24-year-old Adelaide Thunderbirds star is ready to make her Games debut in Glasgow.
“I never thought I’d be actually at the Commonwealth Games,” Horjus told AAP.
“Looking back on that photo (from 2018), it made me really emotional.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve come so far’, and that time has flown. It’s a dream of mine, has been for a long time.
“Just making the Diamonds team for the first time was really special. I started thinking I could be in the (Commonwealth Games) squad this year.
“But I still sort of wasn’t fully confident in myself and didn’t really think I would make it.”
Horjus is one of five debutants in the 12-strong Diamonds team, alongside Thunderbirds teammate Matilda Garrett.
The Thunderbirds duo will take part in the Diamonds’ gold medal defence just three weeks after beating Melbourne Vixens in the grand final.
Garrett was one of the first people Horjus called after being told the good news by Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich.
“I had a feeling she was going to be in the squad too,” Horjus said.
Garrett added: “It’s just simply the best. Georgie and I are best friends on and off the court.”
Thunderbirds defender Garrett earns her Games debut after returning to the Diamonds squad earlier this year as cover for Sunday Aryang, who tore her ACL in October.
“As soon as Stacey said, ‘Congratulations, you’ve made it’, I just burst into tears,” Garrett told AAP.
“It was a very hectic week after the grand final in all the good ways. Before I left to come to Melbourne (for a training camp), I was frantically packing.
“I just have a huge sense of excitement because I’m actually here and we’re here to prepare for something I’ll never forget.
“It’s just so surreal.”
Beating Jamaica to win the gold medal at the 2022 Birmingham Games, top seed Australia will kick off their netball campaign in Glasgow against Tonga on Saturday.
The Diamonds lead pool A with England, while fellow heavyweights New Zealand and Jamaica are in pool B with hosts Scotland.
Australia have claimed back-to-back gold medals in netball once, doing so at the 1998 and 2002 Games.
AAP