A familiar Silverdome face to netball's faithful is set to take charge of Collingwood Magpies for the second time in five days in the do-or-die clash against NSW Swifts.
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Kate Upton, who coached the Tasmanian Magpies last year to an historic Australian Netball League premiership first, has been thrust into the caretaker role in the absence of Rob Wright's leadership.
A final decision is expected to be made sometime on Friday after the head coach took personal leave prior to Collingwood's stirring 63-57 win over West Coast Fever.
Upton was adamant that the unexpected promotion from assistant for a second match inside just five days this Saturday will not upset preparation for Launceston.
The mother of three has huge shoes to fill after Wright was recruited from the Swifts to aid the 2017 Super Netball newcomers straight off back-to-back grand final success.
"Nothing really changes because Rob has been very good at making an inclusive environment," she said.
"We literally just run like a coaching panel. For us to transition is quite easy.
"So not to have him there, well, obviously his presence last game was missed in the sense of the functioning of the team, it's still pretty much smooth sailing. Nothing has changed with me in charge than it did the week before."
The trip instead promises to be more akin to a homecoming for the Victorian.
It was strong bonds with midcourters Kelsie Rainbow and Shelby Miller, and also assistant coach Claire Dennis - all a part of the Cavaliers production line - last season that attracted the attention of Collingwood into a new role.
"I have pretty fond memories of Tassie," Upton said.
"Not only just the place, but the people that surround the Tasmanian Magpies and now our Super Netball group.
"No one will be able to take away that [grand final] victory we had last year and now I get to come back and show some awesome netball to our Tassie fans.
"So we're pretty excited as we love the crowd in Tassie. It's always one of our better home games each year.
"We're looking forward to having that atmosphere back and hopefully backing us in another tough contest."
So for a team that had not tasted a victory outside of Melbourne all year until Monday in Perth after six road defeats, Launceston appears the lesser of two evils.
The Pies encounter will be the first of two crux games to win to reach the top four.
"That's obviously our aim, but we know we have a tough journey ahead to even get into finals against Swifts and then Vixens," Upton said.
"But I do think if anything else, our team has really come together in the last week and really made sure we all support each other.
"I think that's a really good stepping stone heading into this very important match.
"We're up against Swifts, who are a high-quality side, and it's really hard to win ball against them.
"I think having the backing of the crowd there in those precious situations can only help motivate us a bit more.
"So we're really pumped that we have that opportunity again to play at Launceston and we're hopeful they will get us across the line."
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
