2011 Lady Supercats MVP and SEABL All-Star Deanna Smith will be back with Geelong for the 2012 season.
Currently playing in the WNBL with the Bendigo Spirit, Smith was instrumental in the Lady Supercats debut season last year. It was a come back mission for Smith, who missed the 2010-2011 WNBL season due to having shoulder surgery. Although missing several games for the Lady Supercats at the start of the 2011 SEABL season due to her ongoing recovery from the surgery, Deanna averaged 20.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 2011 and was also in contention for league MVP.
Head women’s coach Paul O’Brien is pleased that Smith has been confirmed for the 2012 season. “We always knew that Doccy was going to be back with our program this year. It just a matter of fine tuning the details and getting pen to paper to confirm it.”
Deanna, or “Doccy” as she is known, is looking forward to settling back in to life in Geelong. “It was so great last year – the community is really fantastic and I had a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to come home to Bendigo for the WNBL season, and I feel like Geelong is now my home also which is great to be able to go back to.”
“Having been a part of the inaugral Geelong SEABL women’s team was really special, and I felt like even though it was our first season we were still dissappionted not to make the finals but we surprised a lot of people. 2012 will be different because we’re no longer the new team, so there’s more expectation and I know we’re up for the challenge.”
Doccy will join the Lady Supercats once the WNBL season is over. With the Bendigo Spirit currently sitting in fifth place (five teams advance to the finals series) it could mean a transition straight from the top league to the SEABL. The WNBL Grand Final is scheduled for Sunday 11th March, with the Lady Supercats first SEABL game to be held the following week on Saturday 17th March.
