Rebecca Bulley played against some of her former team mates as the New South Wales Swifts took on the Melbourne Vixens in Newcastle this week.
The Vixens upset the Swifts 53 – 52 with a goal five seconds from the final buzzer.
It was a classic contest which attracted a great crowd and received live television coverage through Fox Sports.
Going in to the game the former Bendigo player told the Bendigo Weekly she had mixed emotions about facing a team that included some of her best friends.
“I personally did not have a point to prove,” Bulley said.
“I am over what happened during the summer.
“I have realised that it has worked out really well for me as a player with a great franchise and also my employment role with Netball New South Wales.
“It was great to be able to play on my old Phoenix rival Sharelle McMahon and we had a great tussle,’’ she said.
The Melbourne Vixens jumped out of the blocks with a 5-0 lead before the Swifts scored their first goal and the visitors led for a majority of the match.
With the game in the balance a last ditch intercept from Bianca Chatfield gave the Vixens a final chance to steal the game.
A perfectly weighted delivery from Sharelle McMahon to Bendigo’s Caitlin Thwaites in the dying seconds saw the Vixens take the game by a solitary goal.
The match was billed as the game of the season and with little separating these two power sides in the ANZ Championship there is no doubt that Rebecca Bulley will be meeting her Vixen mates again as the finals loom.