IT will come as no surprise to those who know Tenille Collins best that her player profile photo for the Albury-Wodonga Lady Bandits has her sporting a black eye.
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After all, the 155-centimetre point guard universally known as “Shorty” has made an SEABL career of scrapping, fighting and hustling at both ends of the court.
And tonight, the only remaining player from the inaugural 2006 squad becomes the first Lady Bandits player to rack up 200 games when the Border outfit plays host to reigning champions Brisbane.
It’s been quite the journey for the feisty playmaker, who has surpassed even her own expectations about what she could achieve.
Much like Michael Watson — her captaincy counterpart on the men’s Bandits squad — Collins has forged a reputation through dint of sheer hard work.
Rarely considered an offensive threat, Collins nevertheless has a career-high of 20 points, against Bendigo in 2012, a scoring outburst that included four three-pointers.
Indeed, Collins has played more games (199) than she has made baskets (197) over the course of her playing career.
But that hasn’t stopped her from contributing to what limited success the Lady Bandits have enjoyed since entering the league 10 years ago.
While the Border club’s lone playoff appearance in 2009 against Dandenong stands out as the personal on-court highlight, Collins preferred to remember the friendships she’s forged along the journey.
“It (the 200-game milestone) hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Collins said.
“It only feels like yesterday that we played the first game and now I’ve been playing so long all the games kind of mix into one.
“Obviously the one finals game we played in 2009, that was a great year, only to lose that playoff game at the buzzer in overtime.
“Every year there’s been a different group, people come in and people leave and I’m always making friendships from that.
“Through basketball I’ve got friends from the other side of the world that I can go visit when I’m done playing and it’s things like that that really make it worthwhile.”
It is that limited success that may grate on Collins most, with the Lady Bandits routinely finishing among the bottom teams for all but three years of their existence.
Not that she hasn’t tried to make the best of what have been frequent trips to the league’s cellar.
But a near-constant turnover of coaches — incumbent Michael Brookens is the team’s tenth appointment in 10 years — certainly hasn’t helped the Lady Bandits establish a solid foundation from which to work.
“You always aim to play finals and you always think you’ll get there,” Collins said.
“So when year after year you don’t make it, it does get tough.
“It becomes really hard but you can have some fun too.
“I feel like I’ve got so much more to give to the team and the sport.
“Because we’ve been through so many coaches, there’s never been a set structure to follow.
“So every year, I’m learning something different — which isn’t a bad thing — but it’s hard when there’s not a lot of continuity.
“But at the same time, I’ve learned how to follow instructions very clearly and pick up new things very easily so it hasn’t always been bad.”
Tip-off tonight at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre is 6.30pm, with the Bandits’ clash with the Nunawading Spectres to follow at 8.30pm.