NSL Player Focus: Rachel Dunn (Celtic Dragons)

IT was a bumper weekend for most teams in the Netball Super League over the weekend, with most of the competition having to front up for multiple matches across the weekend.

One of those sides was the Celtic Dragons, who had less than 24 hours between their match in London against the Pulse and their game at home against the Strathclyde Sirens.

Despite narrowly losing to the Sirens, one Dragon who had a huge influence on the match was Rachel Dunn.

Although not starting the season as a member of the Dragons line up, she has come into the team in the last few weeks to replace Chelsea Beard, and despite having a career longer than the Dragons have existed as a club, is still playing like someone who is nowhere near as old as she is.

This Player Focus takes a closer look at how she played in that match against the Sirens, and aims to pick apart her technique and get an insight into what makes her so influential.

Dunn did not take long to get involved in the game, scoring the first goal for her team. Really using her height to her advantage, she was able to reach over her direct opponent, take in the ball and shoot truly.

Perhaps because of this height advantage, Dunn does not venture out of the circle very often. She is able to use the combination of her height advantage and being strong off the body to stay deep, patiently wait for her team mates to bring the ball down court and then strike to make an influence on the game.

Speaking of that strength, the fact that she is so strong in the contest allows her feeders to feed her the ball often via the aerial route with confidence that she will be able to take it and the ball will not be intercepted.

Dunn is always calm and composed when the ball is in attack. Tapping into that vast experience she has, she is not always presenting and wasting energy, but knows exactly when to time her runs and when to present to gain most benefit for her team.

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