The partnership-turned-rivalry of Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald and NSW Swifts mentor Rob Wright is on the verge of its most significant chapter as a new era dawns in Australian netball.
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Since the pair's first meeting more than 30 years ago in Sydney's north, they have followed similar paths, loosely so for the first 20 years, but they have been much more tightly entwined in the past decade.
Next Saturday they will be staring each other down from opposing benches, tasked with overseeing the first game of the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball competition; Wright in charge of the Swifts, an institution of Sydney netball for 20 years, but a club in transition after last year's playing roster was gutted by the competition's three newest teams; and Fitzgerald coaching the Giants, one of the three start-ups looking to establish an instant foothold and bolstered by the recruitment of Wright's former stars Kimberlee Green and Susan Pettitt.
Both clubs train at the Genea Netball Centre and their respective changerooms are barely 10 metres apart. Friendships across the two clubs are strong, but already there's much to play for in this fledgling rivalry. As two of the most respected coaches in the country, neither Wright nor Fitzgerald are entertaining the possibility of losing next weekend's season opener.
Their paths crossed for the first time in the 1980s at the Ku-ring-gai Netball Association where Fitzgerald knew Wright's mother.
"That's more years ago than I care to remember," Fitzgerald said.
"We were both heavily involved in the rep program in those days. Rob was a constant at Canoon Road down at the netball courts and so was I. From a very early age we got to know each other."
Their coaching paths shot off in different directions, both driven by a burning ambition but employing entirely different methods. Fitzgerald has always been a mentor to her players on top of her coaching duties, while Wright possesses one of the sharpest analytical minds in world netball.
"Something that I think Jules does better than anyone is family and management, and probably how she sees the player as the whole person, not just a player," Wright said.
"That's something that I've really tried to take forward in my coaching as one of her real strengths – building teams and probably getting the best out of her players."
Wright coached various representative teams and ended up at the NSW Institute of Sport, while Fitzgerald took charge of the Sydney Swifts when they were founded in 1997 and stayed at the club for 15 years, during which time they evolved into the NSW Swifts and contested the ANZ Championship.
In 2010 she was on the hunt for an assistant coach and didn't have to look very far before appointing Wright as the first male to undertake that role in ANZ Championship history.
"He's got a very analytical brain; he's particularly good at statistics, which aren't my strong point and I think we complemented each other well," Fitzgerald said.
"I'm far more concerned with the job that they do rather than whether they're male or female. He's been involved in the sport for a long period of time, and always been respected for the knowledge that he brings to it."
Wright's two years under Fitzgerald were key in his eventual metamorphosis into a head coach.
He stayed at the club in 2011 after Fitzgerald was controversially removed from her post and replaced with Lisa Beehag, then he took the reins himself in 2014, where he's remained since.
Fitzgerald moved on to the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic where she coached for the past three seasons before moving back home to head up the Giants.
"At the end of the day, Jules was the coach that gave me the opportunity to get a role in ANZ [Championship]," Wright said. "I'm always eternally grateful for that and without it I may never have got an opportunity to then become a head coach.
"Without her I certainly wouldn't have got the opportunity I have now.
"Her teams are always really well prepared. The Giants have got an exceptional list with super experience and we've probably gone for a very young list that's probably at the other end of the spectrum.
"It's great for the sport and it's great for Sydney and NSW to have two teams. It's going to be exciting times; every week is going to be exciting."
Fitzgerald has coached against Wright for the last three years in her trans-Tasman role, and certainly won't be underestimating his rebuilt Swifts.
"He does his homework so terribly well ... and the team that's going to play you is very well prepared to meet what you're going to put out," Fitzgerald said.
"It's really exciting – the whole thing is exciting to have two teams in Sydney."
Giants Netball: Toni Anderson, Kristina Brice, Bec Bulley, Taylah Davies, Kimberlee Green, Serena Guthrie, Jo Harten, Susan Pettitt, Sam Poolman, Jamie-Lee Price
NSW Swifts: Abbey McCulloch, Paige Hadley, Helen Housby, Sarah Klau, Claire O'Brien, Maddy Proud, Amy Sommerville, Emma Tickner, Maddy Turner, Sam Wallace
Suncorp Super Netball round one:
Saturday, February 18, 5pm
Giants Netball v NSW Swifts
Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
