I have been putting off writing this blog post for a few weeks now…mainly because these past few weeks have been an absolute roller coaster. In fact, 2020 thus far has been a ride I’ll never forget. However, I’ve finally made it to my laptop to share with you all my journey of moving to Queensland late last year, as well as my experience with life on and off the court for 2020 so far.
My name is Rudi Ellis and I’m a defender for the Queensland Firebirds. I’m 22 years old and am looking like Oscar the Grouch right about now because I self-tinted my eyebrows with a blue-black die last night before bed…big mistake, and I’m honestly embarrassed to rock up to training today haha!
It was only last year that I was a training partner with the Melbourne Vixens and a player for the Victorian Fury ANL team (where we won the granny whoop whoop), and now I’m here in sunny Queensland living my dream of playing professional netball for the Queensland Firebirds. I packed my bags and left VIC, late November 2019 with my fellow teammate and roomie, Lara Dunkley, where we were both welcomed into the Firebirds with open arms and infectious smiles.
I don’t know if it’s just a Queensland thing, but everyone I’ve met here so far seems to be so happy, friendly and relaxed! However, Lars and I definitely noticed the heat after the first block of preseason during the hot summer months, where it took us a few conditioning sessions to not be the two heavily panting at the back of the group haha. Training was tough from the get-go, but something I thoroughly enjoyed due to the variety and intensity that the team and coaches provided.
With a mission to find a place to live, we then got to know the beautiful Kim Jenner, and the three of us decided to move into an apartment together. It’s now seven months down the track and oh man we’ve been through a lot as a trio! I was never sure what it would be like living with teammates, and if it would be a netball overload or not.
But is has been quite the opposite! it’s been a household of laughter, farting and an excessive amount of poke bowls and reality TV, and it has honestly made the transition from leaving my family, friends and boyfriend back home a whole lot easier. Also having a seasoned veteran like Kim in the house, to show us the ropes of the Firebirds way, really helped Lars and I to slot straight into everything, which is something we’re both super grateful for.
With a super solid preseason under our belt, we were all feeling ready to tackle the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball season. But then the Rona hit our shores….!
No one could have predicted something like COVID-19 to take place this year (besides the Simpsons), and it is something that has affected everyone around the country. For us, it meant we could no longer train as a team until things started to get better. It also meant that our 2020 SSN season had a big question mark on it. I chose to play netball mainly because I love team sports, and the girls I’ve played with along the way have been a pretty special group of people. Which is why the ISO period was super hard given our team was spilt up.
For me personally, I was back in Melbourne with my family and boyfriend during this period. It was really hard leaving them to begin with and having those few solid months with them is something I’ll always cherish. Although I was still training most days, and as a team we were still very much connected through Zoom, it was also such an amazing time to practice cooking, a bit of ping pong and knuckle down with the final few Uni assignments of my Journalism degree. Not to mention spend some quality time with the people I love. Although it sucked having to hit pause on our season, I’m so grateful I got that quality time back home.
But now we’re all back together training hard, doing the thing we love most. Nevertheless, over these past few weeks we’ve had a lot going on again in the netball world and as a team. Where we’ve had the exciting news of our very own Birdie, Gretel Bueta, announcing she’s expecting a baby boy. As well as the announcement of the new 2-point super shot that will be featuring for the last five minutes of every quarter this season. Although it’s definitely going to be strange playing my first year of Suncorp Super Netball with rolling subs and a 2-point shot, I’m just really grateful our season is still going ahead and that we only have a few weeks to go! It’s been one huge pre-season…and I can’t bloody wait to play our first game, however that may look like.
Until next time x
Rudi
