Leeds Rhinos shooting sensation Donnell Wallam has lit up the Vitality Netball Superleague and insists making the move from Australia to England was the right decision, writes Hannah Clarke.

Formerly a basketball player at state level down under, Wallam has only been playing netball since 2018 and moved to the northern hemisphere to take the step up to the next level.

And having shaken off injury to propel the Yorkshire franchise into the top half of the table, she’s delighted she did.

“I wanted to play at the next level because I was just doing State League back home and I needed court time at the next level,” she said.

“The opportunity came up with Rhinos and I just thought it was too good not to take.

“Learning from Dan (Ryan), who is a shooting specialist as well and I just thought it was the right decision to make and when I got over here and settled in, I knew it was exactly the right decision.”

Wallam has recently returned to the court after suffering an injury blow during her second game for the Rhinos.

She fractured her radius bone in her wrist but has since made a full recovery and played in the last three matches for the team.

“It was heartbreaking, breaking my arm in my second game for the club,” Wallam said.

“I struggled a lot in the first week, I just couldn’t accept that it had happened, and I was out, it was pretty much my first serious injury that I’ve had playing netball so that was tough.”

Restricted to only five appearances by injury, Wallam has still netted 184 goals for the Rhinos, shooting at 93.88 per cent.

She’s open about how much a basketball background plays to her advantage on court with her lay-ups and style of play.

“I kind of adjusted really well actually going from basketball to netball” she said. “I do kind of have a basketball style when I play though, I just can’t get that out of my system I guess.”

“In basketball you will be posting on a body constantly if you are in the post position so I guess that helps me in the shooting circle, being that strong body in there and taking all that physical pressure and just being able to play through it.

The Women’s Sport Trust released some research to show that out of all the athletes surveyed, netball and tennis players were the only sport where the majority of athletes also considered themselves fans of their sport.

Wallam said: “I am definitely a fan, it’s such a good game to watch and even watching the men play back home, they are so athletic it’s amazing.”

“I think it is such a team sport, you need all seven players to get the results that you want whereas you know if you play basketball one player can do it all, you can rely on one or two players and that’s fine.

“Netball is a whole team sport coming together and when the whole team is on song it is so good to watch, it’s just clinical.”