By Alexandra Fairfield-Smith
For those who don't know, a group of sharks is a shiver.
With seven Bull Sharks netballers absent from pre-season training due to Super Netball Reserves commitments, you could excuse Bond's head coach for asking if a shiver is the price of premiership success.
But Bec Stower refuses to see it that way.
“It is what it is,” Stower says.
“All we can do is make the most of the opportunities that we get when we’re together.”
Among those selected in the Future Firebirds program are Bond students Kirra Tappenden and Kaylin van Greunen, with Jayden Molo, Amy Williams, Sasha-May Flegler and Brook Lacey also involved. And with Bull Sharks co-captain Sophie Westover representing Sunshine Coast Lightning Reserves, a large portion of Bond’s title-winning core is spread across multiple programs.
Although the logistics are unique, for the reigning premiers it's also a great reflection of the club’s growing presence in Queensland’s elite netball pathway system.
Futures squads compete in the Super Netball Reserves competition designed to provide aspiring athletes with an opportunity to train and compete in a high-performance environment aligned with the Suncorp Super Netball franchises.
For Bond, however, the opportunity has become a double-edged sword.
But Stower remains philosophical.
She's adamant disruption now could ultimately strengthen the team later in the season.
“The biggest thing we place importance on is that we’re working hard here, and we know our girls are also working hard somewhere else,” she says.
While the Futures program is accelerating player development, there's no doubt it forces the Bull Sharks brains trust to rethink preparation for the opening rounds.
“I’ve just got to have a look at who we’ve got and really structure the training session around who we’ve got,” Stower says.
And with so many Bond teammates developing together inside the same elite system, the club hopes those combinations will eventually become an advantage.
“Obviously it does have a positive effect, the fact that there’s so many of them together, it keeps those connections going.”
In the short term though, the Bull Sharks can't ignore the hard the reality of covering seven absent players across the opening two rounds.
“We’ve just got to try and pull from wherever to get coverage,” Stower said. "Seven players is a lot."
More than missing players on court, the club’s biggest challenge is preserving links within a squad constantly split across programs.
“The biggest and hardest part is about maintaining the connections,” she said.
To combat that, the team has introduced regular check-ins and team bonding activities.
A weekly '3-2-1' exercise has helped - players share three things they've done outside netball, two areas they want to improve in their game, and provide one message for teammates.
It is a small but deliberate effort to make sure players still feel part of a collective even if they rarely train together.
“I don’t want any of the girls to feel isolated from the group,” Stower says.
Suncorp Super Netball Reserves games are played each weekend until 14 June.
Hart Premier League Sapphire and Ruby netball competitions kick off on 7 June.