Vitality Rose and Loughborough Lightning returnee Beth Cobden is back in an England squad for the first time since the historic 2018 Commonwealth Games triumph.
After overcoming two serious knee injuries in the past few years, the wing defence is feeling grateful and excited for the opportunity to pull on the red dress once again.
Ahead of the Vitality Netball Legends Series, Beth shares her thoughts on…
… being back in the Vitality Roses setup
“It’s been brilliant. It’s obviously just a massive privilege to be here and I think we’re all just so grateful for all the staff and everyone who’s managed to get the series off the ground.
“Everyone’s in a good mood, everyone’s loving it – the vibes are really good. I’m so happy to be back – it’s been amazing.
“I’m super grateful for all the staff for getting me back and the girls have supported me so well.
“I just can’t wait to get going and hopefully I can put the red dress back on and get some more games under my belt. It’s really exciting!”
… working with Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby
Chelsea Pitman, Beth Cobden and Kadeen Corbin of England celebrate victory after the semi-final (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
“She’s an awesome coach and she’s a lovely person so she always brings a good energy to training.
“It’s just been good to have someone different because I’ve had similar coaches for quite a while so it’s nice to have a different take on things and learning as we go.”
… building towards the 2022 Commonwealth Games
“I think it’s always there as the long-term goal we’re working towards the Commonwealth Games, and World Cup, and being the team to win and back it up so that is always in the back of our minds.
“But obviously, we’ve just got to take each tour as it comes and focus on what we’re doing in that session, slowly building up to lead us towards those big tournaments.
“The Vitality Netball Legends series is just a great opportunity for us to keep building.”
… the team’s virtual dance class with Sport Relief and two-time Strictly champion Oti Mabuse
This 👇🏻👌 absolutely loved our ‘cool down’ with @OtiMabuse today and the 🌹’s were on 🔥 with their first attempt at The Charleston 🤗👏🏻 @bbcstrictly how about having us on for a group dance? We’re quick learners 😁 First ‘team’ to come on the show? pic.twitter.com/T38gIylwjD
— Jess (@JessThirlby) January 17, 2021
“It was really, really good fun! To be fair looking back at it, it looks quite good the dance so she’s obviously an amazing teacher!
“She’s just a wonderful person and very inspiring, and it was really interesting to hear her talk at the end as well when we had a Q&A with her.
“She’s a very confident, energetic and hard-working women. It was a brilliant end to training.”
Watch the first game on Sky Sports Arena and Mix on Wednesday 20 January from 5:30pm. All matches will also be streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
A huge thank you to everyone for making the Vitality Netball Legends Series happen and the continued support from all of our partners during these challenging times.
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