THE Sunshine Coast Lightning pulled off some big moves in the recent SSN signing period, signing some household names. One of those was Courtney Bruce, who made the shock move from West Coast Fever to the east coast and moved clubs for the first time in 10 years.

The 2023 SSN season was an improvement on 2022 for the Lightning, but they were still two games short of reaching finals.

However, it has been a big off-season for the side, with a number of huge changes made to the squad. This is especially prevalent in the defensive end, with only one defender still left from the 2023 squad – Ash Ervin, who is only going into her second SSN season.

That means Bruce is coming into a side very different from the one she has left. Although Bruce has always been a leader, she will be even more of one at the Lightning.

She enters a team where she is the only international level defender, joining the second season Ervin and Tara Hinchliffe, who is returning from a major injury, so her guidance and leadership will be crucial. Her skills on court will also be crucial.

Although Bruce can also play goal defence, her main specialty and more likely position to play at the Lightning is goal keeper, so will essentially be an upgrade on Kadie-Ann Dehaney, who has taken Bruce’s spot at the Fever.

Although Bruce is a few centimetres shorter than Dehaney, Bruce’s stats far eclipse Dehaney’s.

Taking the 2023 season stats as a test case:

• Bruce led the league for defensive rebounds with 39 (Dehaney only finished with 23)
• Bruce had the second highest defections tally in the league with 103, only beaten by Shamera Sterling (Dehaney only had 64)
• Bruce had the third highest intercepts tally in the league with 35 (Dehaney only had 21)

She is also a lot quicker moving up court than Dehaney, which will only help the Lightning.

One issue that the Lightning had at times in the past is their consistent speed up the court, but with Bruce in the heart then feeding the quick and agile Liz Watson, who is then delivering it to the classy shooting duo of Cara Koenen and Steph Fretwell, this will only see the Lightning become more consistent and improve.

The main concern for Bruce will be how she settles into her new team. It is her first club move in over 10 years, so it may take her time to adjust to how the Lightning play and how Belinda Reynolds coaches. But, she is experienced enough that it should not take her long.