Tegan Philip's injury misfortune has been Alice Teague-Neeld's opportunity, and Saturday's appointment with the imposing Queensland Firebirds' defence represents the 20-year-old's biggest challenge in a senior career still just three games old.
Alice Teague-Neeld at Vixens training this week. Photo: Penny Stephens
Tegan Philip's injury misfortune has been Alice Teague-Neeld's opportunity, and Saturday's appointment with the imposing Queensland Firebirds' defence represents the 20-year-old's biggest challenge in a senior career still just three games old. The fourth will be played out against Diamonds' captain Laura Geitz and some strong, seasoned and rather physical company.
Teague-Neeld is prepared for it, though, and her progress has been palpable in the opening two rounds. The goal attack's first four-quarter appearance came in the surprise 15-goal drubbing from the NSW Swifts, before a composed 20-goal follow-up, including a 10-from-10 first term, in last Sunday's victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds by the same margin. Next are the Firebirds, whose robust back three comprises Geitz and her national teammates Clare McMeniman and Gabi Simpson.
"Yes, they are quite physical, but we have some pretty good defenders at Vixens which we come up against day in, day out, at training and I think they give us the best preparation for that kind of defence," says Teague-Neeld, the youngest daughter of former Geelong and Richmond utility and Melbourne coach Mark Neeld. "A Jo Weston and a Geva Mentor aren't easy to play against, so they are giving us good preparation for any team."
Captain Madi Robinson, who was returning from a knee reconstruction just as it emerged that Philip would be requiring one after a late practice-match mishap in Shepparton, has already seen a significant improvement from Teague-Neeld in the dawn of the season, with the Vixens' first home fixture scheduled for Hisense Arena after a fortnight on the road.
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"Alice is just going to grow and grow with every game," says the champion wing attack. "She's an extremely smart player, and she's learning a lot about the elite game - how different is it to playing state league and ANL, and it is a different challenge.
"And yes, she fades at times, but, I mean, gosh, it's great to see that she's come so far even in the first couple of weeks, and also her confidence in the shot. It's awesome to be out the front and know you can give her the ball and she's gonna put it in the hole. I mean, that's what you want: a shooter that demands 'put the ball in my hands, I'll take the game on'."
Like the rest of her teammates, Teague-Neeld says she was "devastated" when the severity of Philip's season-ending knee injury was confirmed, but also knew that the door to a starting position with the dual premiers was not just ajar but had flapped wide open. The second-year physiotherapy student had graduated with honours from a fine junior career, and yet played only part of one game in 2016 as an understudy to established pair Philip and Karyn Bailey.
"When it first happened I think we were just hoping that it wouldn't be such a bad injury," she recalls. "But once we did get the results and that it was an ACL and Tegan was gonna be out for the season I did think that if Simone (McKinnis) needed me I was ready to go and really excited for the opportunity."
Round one: not so good, although Teague-Neeld did settle after a nervous start and, amid a revolving door of rotations, played out the game to finish with 17 goals from 22 attempts. Round two: better, for both player and a team seeking to rebound from a disappointing fourth place in the Australian conference and rare play-off absence last year.
The Firebirds, though, are heavy favourites to claim back-to-back ANZ Championships, and on Sunday logged the 15th consecutive victory since their most recent loss in round two, 2016. A year on, as a record-equalling 16th straight success beckons, the Gretel Tippett-Romelda Aiken front line is almost terrifyingly hard to counter.
At the other end, typically, it is both torrid and testing at times, as Teague-Neeld will be the next to discover. "But I know Alice can stand up to that physicality, and withstand it," says Robinson. "It will probably just be weathering that little bit of physical pressure at the start and going 'right this is what I'm gonna cop', and just dealing with it'.
"She's pretty cool and level-headed, she doesn't give you a lot of expression on court, whether she's hurting or anything like that but as long as she continues to just do what she's been doing we'll definitely be able to get the ball in there to her. This weekend's gonna be a really big test to come up against some incredible defenders, so I'm looking forward to seeing what she does."