Its time for the Opals to move on from her anyway, yes she has been a great servant but LJ seems like more of a hindrance than a help now. With lots of Aussie young stars on the rise I hope the Opals look to Rio with a youthful mind.

I'd love to see Jackson coming off the bench in Rio, I think Gabe Richards is a brilliant player and if she gets a start then I won't be complaining.

But I really hope all these injury troubles for our girls are a thing of the past, they deserve some good luck

^ Our young players are not getting the chance to perform, Screen, Hodges, Jackson etc are still getting most of the court time. The Opals not playing their young guns against NZ is a prime example.

up and coming opals need to show that they are not just good players but brilliant - that will be the difference between achievement and mediocrity

HAHAHA Andy, Did you watch the last Olympics at all? I think Hodges got about 90 seconds on the floor.

Any way, isn't the point of the U19 and U17 world championships to ready our youngsters and prepare them for Opals representation. So why do we have to pick 'development' players in our national team? Isn't that what the U17 and U19 worlds about?

For the Opals, I'd rather the twelve players selected be the 12 best players and not this development nonsense. For Christs sake age shouldn't matter, skill level/combinations etc right now and not ten years down the future should matter.

to me LJ is still the most important player in the Opals line up.


A far superior team with her playing.

Think they actually need another age group , a 23 and under would help that middle tier of great players that are really just sitting around waiting for the likes of Jackson, screen and harrower ( though think she's hanging up get boots) to retire. Un17 and un19 are just that young teenagers and whilst there athleticism and skills are probably up there the body maturity and game experience just isn't.

Joyce lives in lala land sometimes they could have picked a better coach than him. Agree they need another age group but isn't that covered by uni games ??. Joyce has blown the budget so too lemanis with all the extra training camps that continually change rosters, instead of focusing on a core group they are bringing in so many 'development' players that really they could ' develop' after the next Olympics.kids that are still looking for spots in un19s and still have uni games and college, why use funds that could be better spent .

And Lauren Jackson needs to retire let the younger fitter players take on the role , she's done enough, just being greedy now

Are we not able to let our champions retire on their own merits and gracefully? Just like Bogut, Lauren when fit is still a key to our best performances on the international stage, for me anyway...

How nice would it be to allow them both to get their bodies right, after such a long career of sacrafice and dedication!

FFS calling LJ greedy. I am sure she has given up plenty of cash to play for the national team over the years. She comes across as a very proud Aussie to me who loves to help the national program and has carried a multitude of injuries into Opals games where logically a greedy player would have sat out and not risked jeopardising the earnings elsewhere.
Even on one leg she is better than the younger options so let us hope she is better than 50% by the WC.

So when do you say enough, when do you say on going reoccurring juries that prevent training at every camp should be a sign that her body has had enough. When do younger fitter healthier and more athletic players get the opportunities she got when she was younger or do they have to wait till they too are past their prime all so a former champion can try to hold on to her title. Yes she has been amazing and could certainly be an asset to help those now in their prime to get better from her experience, but when do you start looking at these past players without the rose coloured glasses and seeing they can become a liability more often than an asset on CRT.