Rebecca Bulley

Rebecca Bulley (born 18 August 1982), also known as Rebecca Strachan, is a former Australia netball international and current netball coach. Between 2008 and 2015 she made 42 senior appearances for Australia. Bulley was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medal at the 2015 Netball World Cup and the silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Bulley also won three ANZ Championship titles with three different teams – the 2008 New South Wales Swifts, the 2013 Adelaide Thunderbirds and the 2015 Queensland Firebirds. She began her senior club career with Melbourne Kestrels during the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era and finished it playing for Giants Netball in Suncorp Super Netball.

Rebecca Bulley

Personal information
Full name	Rebecca Bulley (née Strachan)
Born	(1982-08-18) 18 August 1982 (age 41) Pyramid Hill, Victoria,^[1] Australia
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
School	Bendigo Senior Secondary College
Relatives	Kieran Strachan (brother)
Netball career
Playing position(s): GD, GK, WD
Years	Club team(s)	Apps
199x–199x	Calivil United
199x–1999	Sandhurst
2000–2002	Melbourne Kestrels
2001–2003	AIS
2003	→ AIS Canberra Darters
2004–2007	Melbourne Kestrels
2007–2011	New South Wales Swifts
2012–2014	Adelaide Thunderbirds
2014–2015	Queensland Firebirds
2017–2018	Giants Netball
Years	National team(s)	Caps
2008–2015	Australia	42
Coaching career
Years	Team(s)
2019–2020	Giants Netball Academy
2020	North Shore United
2022–	Queensland Firebirds
Medal record Representing  Australia Netball World Cup 2015 Sydney Team World Netball Series 2009 Manchester Team Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Team

Early life, family and education

Bulley is the daughter of Leon and Lynley Strachan. She was born in Victoria and raised in the Pyramid Hill and Bendigo districts. She attended Pyramid Hill College and Bendigo Senior Secondary College.^[2][3][4] Her sister, Meredith Ball (née Strachan), also played netball for Melbourne Kestrels, Melbourne University Lightning and Sandhurst.^[5][6][7] Her younger brother, Kieran Strachan is an Australian rules footballer.^[8][9][10] Rebecca is married to Randall Bulley, a schoolteacher who was based in Wollongong, but now teaches in Brisbane. She gave birth to a daughter, Indie in 2016. The Bulley family home is in Woonona, New South Wales.^[11][12][13]

Playing career

Early years

As Rebecca Strachan, Bulley began her netball career as a junior with Calivil United in the Loddon Valley Football Netball League. Her mother, Lynley Strachan, coached at the Calivil United club. After her family moved to Bendigo, she switched to Sandhurst in the Bendigo Football Netball League. Her team mates at Sandhurst included her sister, Meredith.^{[2][4][6][14][15][16][17]}

Commonwealth Bank Trophy

Between 2000 and 2007, Bulley played 85 games for Melbourne Kestrels and AIS Canberra Darters in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. She also captained both teams. Between 2001 and 2003 she also played for the Australian Institute of Sport.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23]}

ANZ Championship

New South Wales Swifts

Between 2008 and 2011, Bulley played for New South Wales Swifts in the ANZ Championship.^{[23][24][25][26]} After missing out on selection for the Melbourne Vixens squad, Bulley was encouraged by Liz Ellis to join Swifts.^[4][27][28] She was subsequently a member of the Swifts team that won the inaugural 2008 ANZ Championship title.^[29] At the end of the 2010 ANZ Championship season, Bulley was named the Holden Cruze ANZ Championship Player of the Year, the QBE NSW Swifts MVP and the NSW Swifts Members' Player of the Year.^[4][30][31]

Adelaide Thunderbirds

Between 2012 and 2014, Bulley played for Adelaide Thunderbirds. In 2013 she was a member of the Thunderbirds team won the ANZ Championship.^{[23][32][33][34]}

Queensland Firebirds

In 2015 Bulley played for Queensland Firebirds and finished the season with a third Championship winners medal.^{[12][35][36][37][38]}

Suncorp Super Netball

Giants Netball

Between 2017 and 2018, Bulley played for Giants Netball in the Suncorp Super Netball. Bulley had initially retired after the 2015 Netball World Cup in order to start a family. However, Giants head coach, Julie Fitzgerald, subsequently persuaded her to come out of retirement as an injury replacement for Kristiana Manu'a.^{[13][14][39][40][41][42]} In August 2018 Bulley announced her retirement as a player for the second time.^[43]

Australia

Between 2008 and 2015, Bulley made 42 senior appearances for Australia. From 2005 she was regularly featured in Australia squads, including the advance squad for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. However Bulley had to wait until 2008 before she made her Test debut. She made her senior debut on 20 September 2008 against New Zealand. She was subsequently a member of the Australia teams that won the silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the gold medal at the 2015 Netball World Cup. She retired from international netball following the latter tournament.^{[1][15][22][23][44]}

Tournaments	Place
2009 World Netball Series^[45]
2010 Commonwealth Games^[1]^[31]^[46]
2015 Netball World Cup^[11]^[12]^[37]^[47]^[48]

Coaching career

Giants Netball Academy

During the 2019 Australian Netball League season, Bulley served as an assistant coach with Canberra Giants.^[49][50][51] She was subsequently appointed head coach of Giants, now playing as Giants Netball Academy ahead of the 2020 season.^[52][53]

North Shore United

In 2020, Bulley was head coach of North Shore United when they won the Netball NSW Premier League Opens title. United were crowned champions after a 56–44 grand final win over ERNA Hawks.^[54][55]

New South Wales Swifts

Ahead of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season, Bulley was named as assistant coach of New South Wales Swifts.^[56]

Queensland Firebirds

In July 2022, Queensland Firebirds announced that Bulley had been appointed as their head coach on a four year deal.^[57][58]

Honours

Playing career

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rebecca Bulley.

Australia

• Netball World Cup
  • Winners: 2015
• Commonwealth Games
  • Runners Up: 2010

Queensland Firebirds

• ANZ Championship
  • Winners: 2015

Adelaide Thunderbirds

• ANZ Championship
  • Winners: 2013

New South Wales Swifts

• ANZ Championship
  • Winners: 2008

Individual

• Holden Cruze ANZ Championship Player of the Year
  • Winner: 2010
• QBE NSW Swifts MVP
  • Winner: 2010
• NSW Swifts Members' Player of the Year
  • Winner: 2010

Coaching career

North Shore United

• Netball NSW Premier League
  • Winners: 2020

References

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3. "Victorian School Sports Awards" (PDF). www.ssv.vic.edu.au. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
4. "Bulley nets MVP award". www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
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34. "Bec Bulley puts future decision on hold". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
35. "Queensland Firebirds sign Australian defender Rebecca Bulley to add muscle to a strong backcourt". www.perthnow.com.au. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
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38. (PDF). Netball Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
39. "New mum Bec Bulley to play 200th elite game for Giants in Super Netball 17 years after debut". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
40. "A Mother's Day like no other". www.athletesvoice.com.au. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
41. "Rebecca Bulley: Being a mum is no barrier in Super Netball". wwos.nine.com.au. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
42. "Old heads make light of advancing years as Super Netball approaches climax". www.theguardian.com. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
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44. "Rebecca Bulley". diamonds.netball.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
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46. (PDF). Netball Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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51. "Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
52. "Former Diamond Bec Bulley set to make Canberra coaching debut with Giants". www.canberratimes.com.au. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
53. "2019/20 GIANTS Netball Academy Athlete Announcement". giantsnetball.com.au. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
54. "United storm home to beat Hawks in Opens decider". nsw.netball.com.au. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
55. "North Shore United win 2020 Opens title". www.nnswpremierleague.com.au. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
56. "Bulley returns to Swifts as Assistant Coach". nswswifts.com.au. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
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58. "Bulley to lead Firebirds". supernetball.com.au. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.