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When Kim Ravaillion steps off the court tomorrow for the final time, it won't just mark the end of her 11-year netball career but serve as the final salute to the Firebirds 'Golden Era'.
The 30-year-old confirmed on Tuesday, she would retire after the club's Round 14 Super Netball fixture at home against the Melbourne Vixens — revealing her body, after recent back surgery, is stopping her from getting back to an elite level.
The match will be her 157th and final appearance in the national league — her first was in 2013, with the same club, where she now finishes as a captain.
That season signalled the start of what will go down as one of the most dominant periods from an Australian netball club.
Ravaillion, a 19-year-old New South Wales product, was signed north of the border by Roselee Jencke, to a Queensland Firebirds squad already stacked with talent including Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken-George and Diamonds duo Laura Geitz and Natalie Butler.
From there they'd go on to appear in the next four straight Grand Finals, winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, with the 2015 decider going to extra time and the 2016 decider going to double extra time.
"I was lucky enough to experience some pretty successful years at the start of my career," Ravaillion said.
She reflected on the 2015 Grand Final as being her favourite memory as a netballer, when the side came from behind to defeat the New South Wales Swifts 57-56 in Brisbane.
"We were bridesmaids in the first two leading up to that one and I just remember that we were the favourites the whole year and in that game, Swifts had the better of us, up until about 40 seconds to go," she said.
"It took Geitzy to say … a few words, a really simple set play on our centre pass and I just remember going holy crap, we're gonna win this game."
Rivalry Rules
For Ravaillion, the victory was even sweeter, because she defeated the team she felt had overlooked her.
Like it was back then, and on the eve of State of Origin next week, it was a moment of state allegiances igniting.
"New South Wales didn't want me as a junior, Queensland did and to get that win over them, that's when I knew I was a Queenslander," the midcourter said.
"I watched [the game] probably a month ago, when I was struggling to get back with my rehab and I thought oh that's how good I used to be and that's how good we can be.
"I just love watching it back and the memories that come from it … that's what the Firebirds team is — that game we never give up."
Only a few players still remain as professional netballers from that era – but Ravaillion is the remaining Firebird, who experienced it all.
Gretel Bueta (nee Tippet) is on an indefinite break while focusing on her family and Aiken-George is with the Adelaide Thunderbirds. All others have since retired.
Geitz, her former skipper, will be in the stands tomorrow, watching her farewell match, while her former mentor Jencke is serving as an interim co-coach at the club.
"It's like a full circle for Rav … finishing where she started and with some of the people that she started with," Geitz said.
"She's probably the most tenacious player that I've ever played alongside, just her attitude, she just never gives up.
"She was a match winner … you could just tell that by the look in her eyes and then away from the court she's just an incredible human being."
Sacrifice
Ravaillion is not only a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Netball World Cup winner, she's also a proud mum to four-year-old daughter Georgie and fiancée to Western Bulldogs player Adam Treloar.
The pair met when they both played for Collingwood, in their respective sports.
But it was in 2020 when perhaps when of the toughest decisions of Ravaillion's career came, when after sitting a season out due to pregnancy, she decided to relocate to Queensland to rejoin the Firebirds.
"Initially, the idea of it at the start was like 'hell, yeah, let's go achieve our careers and make the most of them', but the impact on our relationship and him being away from Georgie has been really tough," she said.
"I'm grateful that he let me go away and pursue my dream, but I've come to a point where I can't keep up anymore and I really want to go home and be a family.
"I've come back to the club that I love too trying to give my impact back to this club and now I get to go home and who knows, have another baby?
"You know, you have a lot of mum guilt whilst you're selfishly getting out there and being a professional athlete … so I can't wait, to just be present with G and with Ads and get back to Melbourne, unfortunately.
"I love that I've been able to do that and I encourage more women to, you know, not sit down and set their career aside because they're a mum."
'Purple Patch'
While Ravaillion's retirement signals the exit of the final remaining member of Firebirds 'Golden Era', she remains confident their next purple patch isn't far away.
The 2010s was a largely successful decade for Queensland, but it's been a tumultuous follow-on for the once powerhouse Netball Club.
In the past eight seasons, they've played finals just once — a single semi-final appearance in the 2018 season.
After long-serving triple-premiership coach Jencke stepped down at the end of the 2020 season, they've since parted ways with coaches Megan Anderson (2020-22) and Rebecca Bulley (2022-24) midway through their respective long-term contracts.
While the loyal Queensland fans have remained, players have come and gone in recent seasons and stability hasn't been at the core of the organisation.
Only six players (Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Macy Gardner, Lara Dunkley, Hulita Veve, Tippah Dwan and Emily Moore) are signed on for next season and a new coach is yet to be appointed.
"I mean, there's lots of work to do at the club at the moment, that's obvious and you know there's conversations that everybody's having," said Geitz, who served as captain from 2012-16.
"It's an exceptionally proud club and it's had challenging times for a while now so hopefully the club can rebuild and get back to the place that everyone wants it to be, whether you're a past player or a current player."
The departing captain Ravaillion made a promise to her teammates: things will get better.
"We have an incredible group … we haven't got it right in the last couple of years, we learn from that, we get the right people in," she said.
"[It's] getting that right [coach] that knows how to manage players, that knows how to get the best out of those players, the belief in those players to put in that work … Because this group, I don't think will change too much and they're gonna build and get better and better and they will to experience what I did at the first part of my career."
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