![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/DSC_0152_51871.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
“I was like, someone take a photo. It was so surreal. I was so grateful to get on court.”<\/p>\n
In terms of the biggest influences on her netball, Fennell nominated McPherson, her Storm coach Fiona Schubert, and of course her mum, a multiple premiership player at Golden Square and a former Braves basketballer.<\/p>\n
“Mum does so much for me \u2013 she gives me the majority of my netball tips,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I’d be pretty ordinary without her.<\/p>\n
“She keeps me very humble.”<\/p>\n
Storm 17-and-under coach Schubert said Fennell had all the attributes needed to excel in netball, if that was the sporting path she eventually chose.<\/p>\n
“She is amazingly versatile, really coachable and can just turn a game for you,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Just a really important player on court for us.<\/p>\n
“She still has another year in under-17s yet – still bottom age – so she is definitely a talent to watch.<\/p>\n
“She had a pretty reasonable season for us last year, but she was missing for six or eight rounds because she was in (under-16) Vic Country basketball.<\/p>\n
“This year she is bottom age under-18, so it’s back to netball as a bit of a focus and she is having a cracker of a season.”<\/p>\n
Fennell looms as one of the undoubted keys for her side during this year’s finals series.<\/p>\n
The Storm will play Golden Square in this weekend’s qualifying final, with the pair finishing second and third behind reigning premier Sandhurst.<\/p>\n
Co-coach of this season’s BFNL 17-and-under representative team, McPherson lauded Fennell’s versatility as a major asset during their 2025 tournament season campaign.<\/p>\n
“You definitely notice Lexie’s drive and her knowledge on the netball court; (she has) such a clear understanding of where things need to go and a great game sense,” she said.<\/p>\n
“If what she executes doesn’t happen, she works so hard to try and turn the ball back over, so she gets another opportunity, or the team gets another opportunity.<\/p>\n
“I think she has all the potential and all the requirements elite team coaches and selectors would look at.<\/p>\n