By Martin Flanagan
Had she been a boy, she would have been named Darrel Baldock Clark. Her family were St Kilda supporters. Saints centreman Glenn Elliott boarded with them. She and her sister spent their summers in and around the West Bentley Cricket Club where her father played.
Lisa Alexander, as she is now known, was good at all sports. She was quick, she could leap. At Little Athletics she ran sprints up to 400 metres and did the high jump. She loved swimming and would have played football had the opportunity arisen. Instead, at the age of 10, she joined her friends in a netball team, thereby starting a journey which sees her, 42 years later, as the coach of the Australian Diamonds netball team, currently world champions, Commonwealth champions and the No.1 team in the world. We met this week in a cafe near her Melbourne home.
What she liked first about netball was that "to win, a number of players have to play together". They have to combine at a pitch of performance their opponents can't reach. She made the Australian squad two years running in the 1980s, but not the team.
She says the best game she ever played in was a national final between Victoria and New South Wales. The Victorian coach Norma Plummer (also, for many years, the Australian coach) told her they had to win the contest in the centre. She played centre and remembers controlling the pace of the game. "I got knocked out in that match," she adds with a slight grin. An elbow to her temple knocked her out "cold" for five minutes. She was concussed twice in her career. "It can be a dangerous place out there."
Lisa Alexander has coached the Australian Diamonds since 2011.Credit: David Callow
If I said she was matter-of-fact it would make her sound abrupt and she's not. You can see her mentally working her way towards her conclusions; you can also see she's intrigued by this once-quaint game which, in its modern form, can be furiously fast and explosively athletic.
Growing up, she was ambitious in sport and academically. She went to Monash University to study medicine and was shocked to find she was one of only 15 students in her year who had come from government high schools. Thirty students had come from Mount Scopus. Her medical studies ended when she got pregnant. When she returned to university, she did a double degree in physical education and maths.
She was appointed as a teacher to Leongatha. In addition to teaching and raising three children, she captain-coached a Gippsland netball team that won its way into the premier state competition. She says she learnt about being a leader during this time. "If you're a leader, you have to perform. There's no excuses." It's where she learnt the leadership skill of thinking on the move. Then, while continuing living and working in Leongatha, she coached Melbourne Phoenix to two national premierships.
When her marriage ended, she moved to Melbourne and served as assistant coach at the Adelaide Thunderbirds. She says that netball is more respected in South Australia; she found herself having useful conversations with people such as Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams.
She has been coaching the Diamonds since 2011. This year they have lost only one game, their most recent triumph being the Constellation Cup series against New Zealand. The Silver Ferns stole one Test off them in Launceston. You can see it's still a live topic with her by the grin she gives it in passing. She sees games as being like laboratory sessions where all the planning and preparation is tested.
Over the years she has gradually swung her AFL loyalty from St Kilda to Hawthorn. In part, it's because her partner Malcolm Hosking is a Hawks supporter, but she also has a professional interest in Alastair Clarkson. She thinks Clarkson was right in letting Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell go. "I have a saying – ignore youth at your peril." They're the coaches who interest her now – the ones who have "repeat success". Like rugby league's Wayne Bennett and hockey's Ric Charlesworth.
Her most memorable game as coach was the 2015 World Cup final. "We had players who were exhausted and injured. It was touch-and-go as to whether we'd get our best seven on the court. It was a real challenge for our medical team and well-being manager."
Before we part, she has a question for me that she puts direct. Why doesn't Australian netball generate more media? It's a fair question. The game produces its share of mighty showdowns and deserves more respect. I'm going with the Australian coach to the next big netball game in Melbourne.