'Top-four target': Jewels set standard ahead of historic debut

It's been a day that the Tasmania Jewels have had circled in their diaries since the WNBL27 schedule was released, but their historic debut is now less than two weeks away.

The Thursday, October 15 clash against Geelong at MyState Bank Arena will tip off the Jewels' time in the WNBL.

One player who knows the enormity of the fixture is Jewels skipper Darcee Garbin.

“It's one of those funny ones where you want to kind of treat it just like a normal game, but you also understand the importance of it,” Garbin said on The Loop, presented by Blackmores.

“I'm sure we'll be taking that all in on the day and the week leading up to it.

“But to play that first game, we'll probably be a little bit nervous, but what an absolute honour [it will be].

“I'm hoping for a sellout, and I think we're pretty close to getting it.

“It's going to be a great battle and [to date], I haven't been to a game here, but I've heard that it's absolute mayhem and I can't wait to experience it.”

Not only will this Round 1 clash be Tasmania's inaugural fixture, but it will also mark Garbin's first WNBL season since 2021-22 with Perth.

Since then, she's played overseas and had a season off, being pregnant with her daughter Rose, before returning to the sport through NBL1 at Cockburn.

“It's so funny because as an athlete, it's a very humbling experience,” Garbin said.

“I've never really had a major injury throughout my career, and even working with my physios when I was on scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport, there's no real blueprint [for making a return postpartum].

“Everyone's so different coming back postpartum; everybody's body reacts differently and responds differently.

“You're at quite a big risk of injury, especially if you're breastfeeding, so [it's key] to make sure you're taking your time to slowly get back into things.

“Then when making a return to contact, we used the phrase that we were flying close to the sun, and were just trying to push it as much as we could without doing any sort of injury or major damage.

“I think we did a really good job; I felt really good coming in July when I went into Melbourne with the Opals for those games.

“[Then] I felt really great coming into pre-season, [which is credit to my team] easing me back into it and holding me back at the start.

“[Because] competitiveness never changes and [at the end of the day] you really want to push yourself to get back on court.”

Read more >> "The orchestrator": Lynx hand star keys to offence

While the Jewels are focused on winning Game 1, Garbin explained what her team's goals are for WNBL27.

“We're real process-driven, and not too worried about the outcomes; we've kind of broken the season up into small little segments,” she added.

“But I don't think we've actually said out loud that we want to be a top-four team, but I think that's an expectation.

“That's definitely an expectation I have on the team; we're not messing around.

“This isn't a year to build, so I'm expecting us to be a top-four team and I'm happy to come on record and say it.”

Garbin's Jewels play Geelong in the WNBL27 season-opener on October 15 from 7pm AEDT, live on 9Now and ESPN via Disney+.