FRIDAYFLASHBACK: Kiera Austin
HER WAY’s 2021 interview with the Diamonds netball star.
When HER WAY started, netball was a sport which I had a limited knowledge of. But with such a huge participation rate and proud history, I knew it was a sport I needed to cover and report on. I reached out to Kiera Austin, who I knew was based in Sydney like myself, hoping she might be willing to do an interview.
Kiera couldn’t have been more lovely. We met up for an hour for an interview, and she even gave me one of her Australian Diamonds training shirts as a gift. Since then ‘Kip’ has remained a big supporter of HER WAY, and has helped out providing quotes and content since that first chat.
Personally, the time of this interview in November 2021 was also an important period for Kiera. She was working her way back from an ACL injury, and had made the decision to move away from Sydney where she spent her whole life to join the Melbourne Vixens.
Since then she and the Vixens have played in two Super Netball Grand Finals, she’s won a Commonwealth Games gold medal and was Player of the Final at the 2023 Netball World Cup as the Diamonds claimed the trophy.
I hope you enjoy this Friday Flashback with some of that first interview with ‘Kip’.
At what point did you realise netball was something you were really good at?
I had trialled for a rep team when I was about 12 and I made it, but I was centre back then. And I wasn’t a very good centre - I wasn’t on the court very often. It wasn’t til I was 15 that I started to play goal attack. And you only play reps from 12-15, and after that I was like, “is everyone going to keep playing netball?” And people weren’t overly keen to keep going, and I was like, “well, I want to keep going”. So that's when I trialled for nationals for the first time - I didn’t make the team, but thats ok, I came back and made it the year after, and after that I began to think, “this is something I really enjoy”, and I didn't think I knew that I wanted to be a netball player until it just kind of happened.
As a 16 year old, you were playing in a national league against adults, many of who had played for years. What helpful advice did you get from your coaches at that time?
The one piece of advice that really stuck with me, well, it was more that a coach said something to me about the way I played. She said that I played with a sense of arrogance. And usually you don’t want to be described as arrogant, but she said, “off court you’re obviously a lovely person, but when you're on the court, you play with arrogance and you know that you're better than the person you're playing against, and instead of walking on and being nervous about the game, you’re like, ‘oh, they’ve got to play against me! They should be nervous.’” So i think that just instilled a bit of confidence in me.
Has there ever been times when you’ve doubted whether you want to keep being a netballer?
I think more recently rather than early on I’ve probably had those thoughts and I've thought, “is netball really worth it all?” I've got a couple of old teammates that have retired now and had babies. When you’re playing netball you don't want to think that you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. And I think once I did my knee I was like, “Gosh, y’know, this is my body, and it’s never let me down before. Do I want to come back and risk re-injuring myself?” But I think at the end of the day, the feeling of being on court and running around and actually winning games and championships, and having your family there - that feeling is better than the alternative.
Giants MVP, Team of the Year, Diamonds debut - did all that recognition in 2020 surprise you?
All of it was a surprise to me. I think that year I was meant to be playing more Wing Attack, and it just so happened that I ended up playing more Goal Attack which is where I wanted to play. But finding out that I was MVP was a shock to me. I’d been in the team for three years, but it was the first year I’d been playing on the court consistently. It was a shock to be in the team of the year because there were some really great Goal Attacks in the league that year. If anything, it really made me really want to work harder to be like, “well, you know, I didn't think I deserved it this year. I’m going to show everyone what I can really do.” So that’s going to happen in 2022 when I can play again [laughs].
What did it mean to you being chosen to debut for the Diamonds?
It meant a lot. I think going over there (New Zealand), I thought that I might probably have a chance to debut for Australia, which was really exciting. It only happened through injury and pregnancy (Gretel Bueta), so I wanted to take an opportunity. To have four caps under my belt is huge and its something I’m never going to forget, and I think since injuring my knee after debuting, it makes me want to get back there. So I think it’s going to motivate me to get back on court as well.
What made you decide to leave the Giants, and why did you choose the Vixens?
I knew that the Vixens needed a goal attack, and at the Giants there was myself, Sophie Dwyer and Jo Harten who are great players and good enough to be on court. I think I’d done the rotation role before, and I wanted to be playing more consistently and I knew I’d probably get that at the Vixens. Although they were the wooden spooners in 2021, they did win the year before. I think they just went through a lot of changes to their team so they couldn’t perform how they would’ve liked. So I asked if they wanted a goal attack, and they were enquiring about me, and I thought this is a change I have to make.
There are more opportunities than ever before for girls and women to choose a sport to play professionally and semi professionally. As a netballer, what's it like to be part of this time?
It’s really exciting. I remember joining the Giants for the first time and having the AFLW players come into the competition and I thought it was great, and you see how hard those girls work. They’re also working 9-5 jobs and getting paid hardly anything, especially compared to what netballers are paid. We don’t get paid a lot compared to what male sports do, but certainly a lot more than what AFLW does. I think it’s only going to get even bigger. I feel like it’s the movement of the girl at the moment. There’s a lot of successful sportswomen and it’s so great to see.