From the netball courts in Wyndham, to the national stage it’s been a fun journey for Reikken Brodie and Blake Cachia so far.
The pair have both progressed through the men’s netball ranks and were recently key members in the Australian men’s under-20 side in the Men’s Netball Nation Series.
While they were on the courts in Singapore their journey together started at Mackillop College and Wyndham Netball Association.
Cachia said he hoped they provided inspiration to the next generation of netballers in Wyndham.
“We’re so close,” said Cachia. “We have a connection on the court.
“We played mixed netball at school. When he came across it was such a good opportunity for me to have someone like him playing.”
Brodie added, “we’ve grown up together playing a lot of netball, playing against each other with each other.
“We know how each other plays and he’s probably one of my favorite people to play with on the court.
“I never thought that I’d be playing in an Australian team with him.”
Brodie had the honour of captaining the Australian team the Netball Nation Series, which Australia won.
He was also named co-most valuable player of the tournament.
“It was quite an honor, it was my first time being a captain,” he said.
“I was a bit nervous, but got through the week fine and all the boys really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun, which was good.
“I wasn’t expecting them to be that big of scores, I was pretty happy. I walked away with the tournament MVP, so I was pretty proud of my performance.”
For Cachia, the chance to represent Australia again helped him gain more confidence in the midcourt which he has been only playing the past couple of years.
He even played wing defence at the national titles last year, further advancing his skills.
“I’m glad we won it,” he said. “It was my third international event and I had lost the other two by one point.
”I was happy with my own game in four of the five games, playing centre and wing attack.
“One game was a bit iffy but it was a bit more physical.
“I’ve always had that wing attack ability … I need to play all three positions in the long term.”
Both players are preparing for the national titles with the Victorian men’s under-23 team which has been the dominant side in recent years.
Brodie said he hadn’t lost a national titles yet and was hoping to get that going this year.
Cachia, who is part of the Victorian Netball League reserves umpiring program, still has another year in under-20s in the national set up, but was hoping to have a chance to step up in the under-23s.
Brodie has his eyes on trying to make the open men’s side in Victoria in the near future and then Kelpies.
“The open’s coaches It’s really pushing for me to get into the opens program soon,” he said. “As soon as I get into that and start playing with more of the boys that are playing in the Australian squad, I’ll get my experience up and hopefully get a bit of an opportunity.”
