Exciting times for Caldwell

Tegan Caldwell is one of several finals rookie in the Vixens team playing in Sunday's Grand Final. Photo courtesy of Simon Leonard Photography

2012 ANZ Championship Grand Final

The Melbourne Vixens team playing in Sunday’s Grand Final is a vastly different one to that won an ANZ Championship premiership three years ago.

Champion shooter Sharelle McMahon and midcourt general Natasha Chokljat are just two of the premiership stars missing.

Tegan Caldwell has made the goal attack bib her own after McMahon went down with a knee injury last season and subsequently withdrew from this year’s Vixens team due to pregnancy.

A prospect of winning a premiership in her first full season in netball’s premier club competition excites the 23 year-old from Geelong.

“It’s obviously every exciting and the closer it gets to Sunday, the more excited I get,” she said.

“It’s a pretty big thing and not a lot of people get to experience it (playing in a grand final), so I’m looking forward to it.”

Caldwell and her teammates took advantage of the week off after winning their semi final by playing a practice match.

The 23 year-old played half the game in combination with fellow shooter Karyn Howarth, another finals rookie.

She sat out the second half owing to illness, but confirmed that she is healthy and fully fit for Sunday’s big game.

Coming up against an international quality defensive combination of Magic captain Casey Williams and Leana de Bruin is a massive for all of the Vixens shooters.

“They’re such a good unit together and so strong, so we’ll be looking at breaking that down to not give them the opportunity to work together when they’re at their best.”

In other netball news, Adelaide Thunderbirds Jamaican shooting machine Carla Borrego’s attempt to gain Australian citizenship has been stalled.

The multi talented Borrego, who also played college basketball in America, had hoped to fast track her citizenship application on the basis that she was an elite athlete.

While her status as a permanent resident stands, the 28 year-old must continue to live in Australia for two more years before she can reapply for citizenship.

She will again be Adelaide’s import player for the 2013 ANZ Championship season, with each team allowed to field one.

While disappointed that her application was unsuccessful, Borrego doesn’t intend on going anywhere soon.

“I’m disappointed because it’s something that we hoped we could achieve and I had hoped to be become an Australian citizen and possibly play for the Australian Diamonds,” she said.

“We will re-apply as soon as possible and I will definitely be staying here (in Adelaide) and playing for the Thunderbirds in the meantime.”

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!