By Linda Pearce
The long road to being indispensable. If there is a line that perfectly encapsulates Kate Moloney’s path to Sunday's milestone Test for the Origin Diamonds, that is surely it.
For only recently has the 33-year-old become a regular in Stacey Marinkovich’s starting seven, while also last year being installed as vice-captain to her long-time Melbourne Vixens teammate Liz Watson.
“I haven’t got there the quickest way and there’s definitely been tough moments in my journey with the Australian Diamonds,’’ Moloney told netball.com.au ahead of game two against Jamaica in Perth.
“But I think that’s what makes it even more special is that it doesn’t come easy, there’s so many people just waiting in the wings to take that opportunity, and it’s something that I’ve worked extremely hard for. So I’ll continue to work as hard as I can to make sure that any opportunity that I do get I don’t take for granted.’’
Zero chance of that, given the slow burn of an international career both before and after Moloney’s debut late in game three of the 2017 Constellation Cup.
Her next, against the Sunshine Girls, will be her 50th.
“As a kid you dream of playing one game for the Diamonds, but to have been able to be part of the squad for so long and been able to experience that, it’s been really special,’’ Moloney says. “It’s something that you don’t really think about too much but I’m sure when I retire it’ll be something that I’m really proud of.’’
Moloney is a players’ player. Not just a team's heartbeat but its voice. An enabler of those around her and a driver of standards. With a game that has clearly aged well.
Ask her great pal Watson - herself on the verge of a milestone, a rare triple-figure one - what she most admires about Moloney, the player, and her answer is telling.
Rather unglamorously, it's the loose ball gets.
“That is a reflection of the type of player Kate is: it’s not necessarily about getting that loose ball, but it’s about doing all those little things away from the spotlight, or the flashy plays, all that sort of stuff,’’ Watson says.
“She is that player who will just grind down, get things done, but then obviously offers that support and voice to everyone around her, and everyone just wants to do well for her out there on court, too.’’
Long-time mentor and friend Bianca Chatfield, now a broadcaster with FOX Sports, says only in the past year or two has what has long been known within the Vixens’ environment become apparent to a wider audience.
“The things Kate says that we pick up on the mike, some people could probably see that as being just manufactured in the moment, but that is just Kate: pure passion for the game, pure passion for her club, and I think since she’s been in the Diamonds environment she’s probably never had the opportunity to really showcase that part of her. It’s always been about performance only,'' Chatfield says.
“It’s been the moments over the last few years where they’ve needed someone to stand up … and she’s been able to rise to the occasion. She’s done that a few times now, and they’ve realised that actually there is far more to Kate than what she’s just doing out there on the court. It’s how she galvanises people and cares for people, and she’s grown and matured into that role.’’
Moloney was named Diamonds vice-captain in 2025.As a wannabe Diamond growing up in the outer Melbourne suburb of, yes, Diamond Creek, young Kate loved watching powerful Aussie midcourter Kim Green. Yet her defensive edge was honed as, initially, a WD - under Simone McKinnis, arguably the greatest to have ever played in that often-thankless spot.
“I learnt a lot that sometimes not everything that you do out on court is recognisable to everyone in the stands, but it’s the little things that you do that help the team along the way that are just as important,’’ Moloney says.
“For me it’s not about stats or goal assists and intercepts, it’s about every little thing that I can do for the team to help make them better, and I’ve worked really hard at that over the time, doing things that you can’t always see on the stats. And I’ve just moved down a little bit more (to centre), which is nice.’’
She can sneak up on you, Moloney. If only metaphorically, given that booming voice - “probably louder on the court, probably quieter off the court,’’ is how she compares her current self to the 2017 version - that is as much her trademark as the relentless competitiveness, durability and warrior mentality.
The wiry and extremely blonde Vixens’ rookie from 2013 has now played a club record 191 national league games. Missing just one - yes, one, due to Covid in 2022, helping to make her own luck with a meticulous preparation and work ethic - in 14 ultra-consistent seasons.
Yet regular selection disappointments have made this a far less linear journey for Diamond #174, only for the maternity leave absence of Paige Hadley to open up the dual role of starting centre and vice-captain through to next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney.
So was there ever a point where Moloney thought this might not happen?
“Yeah, I guess you never know when your next game for the Australian Diamonds is gonna be, and I think that’s what makes the Diamonds so special and so great and something that is so tough to be a part of is we’ve got so much depth within Australian netball,’’ she says.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the environment for so long, it’s definitely not been smooth sailing all the way and, yeah, there probably was times when I didn’t know if I’d play 50 games, but it’s something that I’m really proud of.’’
If the highlight was being part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning team after pipping Jamie-Lee Price for the fourth midcourt slot, then the most devastating experience was her pal Price getting the nod for the 2023 World Cup in Cape Town, where Moloney was a training partner and morale officer.
Watson says it’s a measure of the quality of both athletes - as well as emblematic of the team culture - that they have been genuinely happy for and supported the other throughout their own heartbreak. Which in turn adds to the joy that the pair are now cohabitants in the 12, despite playing similar roles as defensive mids.
“I think the way that Kate just tackled that World Cup experience was incredible. … to be amongst it all, but not actually getting any time out there on court,’’ says Watson, of Moloney, a reserve who remained with the squad throughout.
“But she just was herself and would organise the fun games, the coffee runs, all that sort of stuff that you’d do as a teammate, whilst also training away from the group a little bit, just to be ready in case something happens. I don’t think people realise how tough that position is.’’
Moloney well remembers the bitter pill that was the call from Marinkovich telling her she had been overlooked for the Cape Town 12, having also narrowly missed selection for Liverpool four years earlier.
“But I’ve learnt so much from the real highs and I’ve learnt so much from the lows of being in this environment as well, and I think it’s really helped me as the player that I am within this group now,’’ she says.
“It is something that I’m proud of that I have been able to be around for so long. Obviously I would have loved to have played a few more games in that time, but playing 50 games for your country is something to be proud of and something that’s really special for me.’’
Adds Watson: “I think that is a testament to the type of person and athlete that she is. There would have been many athletes who would have given up, with the highs and lows that Kate’s had along the way, and I know every time she’s been offered that training partner role she’s come into that with such energy and enthusiasm, as if she was in the team, and I think that’s carried on for her to able to get those 50 games now.''
Chatfield, as so often over the years, was there to support Moloney in the difficult moments, but saw the way her mate responded to that crushing 2023 NWC blow as a pivotal time.
“She realised ‘you know what, I love the game, I love playing the game, I can play the game at the highest level with the Vixens and get just as much out of it if I’m not wearing that green and gold dress','' Chatfield says.
"When she realised she’d done what she could in the Diamonds dress and she was OK with that, it took all the pressure off her own shoulders. And I think Stacey and everyone else has realised what Kate has to offer is far more than whether stats might read out on the court.’’
So here we are. In the midst of the Diamonds’ last international series before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July, with that precious home World Cup just another year beyond.
Surely Moloney is daring to dream of the holy grail that is Sydney, 2027?
“Yeah, I do dream!’’ she says with a laugh. “I think for me it’s about just enjoying my netball, trying to continue to improve, and if I’m playing well enough that is a dream of mine to be there. There’s a long time to go between now and then but, yeah, that’d be pretty incredible to be at a World Cup in our home country.’’
At 34, a full decade after her debut, on the same long road travelled.
“To be honest, when I got my first contract as a Vixen, I thought that even if I never take the court I would be the happiest person’,’’ she recalls. “And then you do that and you want to be winning premierships, and then you want to be playing for the Diamonds.
“So I never thought I’d still be playing at 33, but I’ve been incredibly lucky, my body’s been amazing to me, and while I’m still playing well and I’m enjoying it I want to keep going, so we’ll see how long that is.’’
A while, it seems. Indestructible having long been the Moloney way, indispensable seems to fit pretty well now, too.
