Missing all of last season with a broken foot, Tayah Burrows cannot wait to start playing NBL1 again – this time with the Keilor Thunder.
The Western Australian product was set to play for Mount Gambier, but with her injury, she was forced to return home and took on an off-the-court role with the Willetton Tigers.
Related: Tayah Burrows’ next steps
Completing her rehabilitation before the current WNBL season, Burrows signed with the Southside Flyers and played a much larger role than she anticipated – given the numerous backcourt injuries.
“To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I was going to be playing basketball at all throughout the WNBL season,” she told NBL1 Media.
“Just after a pretty major injury, it was pretty up in the air with what I was going to do. I didn't know if my body was going to hold up, there were so many different things that I had to kind of consider.
“It was a pretty crazy season, and to play the minutes that I did get, I'm obviously super grateful for. I learned a lot about myself, about my body – I'm super excited to keep developing.”
In 17 games for the Flyers, Burrows clearly made an impression on head coach Kristi Harrower, who quickly recruited her to last season’s Grand Finalist in the Keilor Thunder, where Harrower was named the Coach of the Year last season.
“After a few weeks with Kristi and the high-level player that she was and now coach, I think it was a bit of a no-brainer to keep working with her in the off-season,” she said.
“I like to think I'm a pretty adaptable player, I can kind of fit into any roster. People know me as a very high-energy player and person, so I think I'll slot in pretty easily and obviously already have played with Maddi (Rocci) and under Kristi, I think it'll be a pretty smooth transition.”
Having missed an entire NBL1 season last year, Burrows explained how much being able to play a season with a different role can be critical for your development.
“I think NBL1 is huge (for my development). It's where you build your confidence up and then hopefully take it into that next season. I think it's going to be massive for me just to get some confidence back in my game,” she said.
“I think in NBL1 you can really try some new things that you wouldn't probably do in WNBL, for example. I think it's going to be huge for me this season.”
After multiple years of experience in the NBL1 West and playing with multiple South stars at the Flyers this season, Burrows explained how excited she is to play in such a talented conference this season.
“I think every week you step up and you know you're gonna be playing against someone with super high talent, so there's no weeks off in the South,” she said.
“I'm super excited to go up against Dallas (Loughridge), that would be funny and we've obviously formed a pretty cool friendship this season at Southside.”
The NBL1 South starts March 29th. Stay up-to-date with all the latest signings via the Roster Tracker here.
