The WORLD at STAKE
In Keeley Devery’s current role as Head of Netball for broadcast rights-holder Nine, the keen student of netball history has been able to revive some memories of the sport’s under-rated international past. Devery’s interest is not just professional but deeply personal and includes a few reminiscences of her own.
Once upon a time, Devery was a New South Wales and Australian defender who combined her tertiary studies with an exceptional representative career. Now 54, Devery made her Test debut in 1985 and retired over a decade later with 63 Caps, two world championship titles, an OAM, a trillion rebounds, one reconstructed knee and a sports journalism degree.
Her biggest moment came in Sydney in 1991 when, at an event still known as the world championships, a team yet to be christened as the Diamonds beat their New Zealand rivals 53-52 to regain the crown lost to the Silver Ferns in Glasgow four years earlier.
The most shocking thing, though? Australia noticed.
“Bob Hawke was there, and it was the first time an Australian Prime Minister had been to a women’s sport event, apart from the Olympics,” Devery recalls. “It drew what was a record crowd [10,050] at that stage, it was live on the ABC, it was called live on radio, and the game was unbelievable.
“There’s been some
