THE world’s tallest netballer Tharjini Sivalingam made her presence felt in her GFL debut, guiding St Albans to a crucial win over St Mary’s yesterday.
Measuring in at a staggering 208cm, or 6 foot 10 inches, Sivalingam shot 65 of her team’s goals in the 66-53 victory.
The 35-year-old Sri Lankan, who is just 3cm shorter than AFL big man Aaron Sandilands, recently moved to Australia and is playing with City West Falcons in the VNL.
St Mary’s coach Bruce Waldron said Sivalingam’s selection had caught the Saints off guard.
“She can certainly play. It changed the whole game,” Waldron said.
“She is going to worry a hell of a lot of people. We had no idea (she was playing).
“She walked in next to Maggie Lind and Maggie was up to he belly button.
“They were putting the ball three or four inches away from the ring and she was just consistently there.
“They (St Albans) have a very good list and we are very young. We put up a fighting performance.”
Sivalingam comes with an impeccable CV, playing for her country and claiming the best shooter award at the World Netball Championships six years ago.
St Mary’s defenders Kate Fowles and Claudia Conway toiled hard but couldn’t stop the height Sivalingam brought to the goaling circle.
“Claudia got her fair share of intercepts as the game went on, so she figured it out,” Waldron said.
“To counter someone that size you can’t let the ball on the circle otherwise you are in a lot of trouble. We did our best in that regard, but as I said we made our fair share of mistakes.”
In case you were wondering, Lind shot St Albans’ other goal.
Molly Gribble was solid through the mid-court for St Mary’s, while Hannah van Gemst worked hard.
Sivalingam and Lind were best on court for the Supersaints.
Waldron said St Albans would be a genuine finals and premiership contender if Sivalingam continued to wear the goal shooter bib every week.
“That changes them, in terms of a threat. If she plays every week then they will play finals,” Waldon said.
“If they turn up with the squad they played (against us) they are going to take some beating.
“They will finish pretty high up I would have thought.”
The Saints coach it was still too early to figure out where his team sits in the premiership race.
“Newtown & Chilwell appear to be right up there again, don’t they?” he said.
“I watched South Barwon beat St Albans and if that girl (Sivalingam) played, it would have been a far different game.”
