WATCH TAB Courtside 1v1 on SBS - episode 10 - with Megan Hustwaite and Jenna O'Hea from 7 pm (AEDT) on Thursday March 11 via , or catch up via .
Melbourne-born O’Hea is a superstar of the Women’s game in Australia and will lead the Opals in Tokyo as they set out to end the United States stranglehold on Olympic Gold.
The 32-year-old is a three-time WNBL Champion and was part of the Opals team which won Bronze at the 2012 Olympics, Silver at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
O’Hea has also had stints in the WNBA with the LA Sparks and Seattle Storm.
This season the talented swing forward celebrated WNBL success as her Southside Flyers clinched championship success during the league’s bubble season in North Queensland.
It was a victory that meant much more to O’Hea due to everything she had to get through just to play in the match.
“It was in the last two minutes of the game against Sydney and I tried to pull the ball out of the arms of one of their players and she come down on my knee,” O’Hea said.
“Straight away it didn’t feel great. I like to think I have a pretty high pain tolerance so I tried to walk it off but my knee kept collapsing.
“I told the team doctor I was alright to go back on but as I got up my knee collapsed again. It was then I realised this could be pretty serious.
Scans the following day revealed O’Hea has suffered a grade two MCL tear and her expected recovery would be between four to six weeks seemingly ruling her out for the rest of the competition with the grand final only ten days away.
However, O’Hea refused to let injury prematurely end her season, as it did the previous campaign when she suffered a broken wrist and was determined to play in the grand final no matter what it took.
“It was déjà vu when the injury happened and I didn’t want to miss another final this way,” she said.
“Thankfully I had really good support staff and physiotherapists helping me out working on the injury every day.
“Two days before the grand final I tried to do some things and the injury was not responding well at all. I was in tears thinking it was all over.
“Thankfully, the next day when I woke up the knee was miraculously feeling pretty good so I tried playing a few games of one-on-one against one of the young girls in the team. Somehow the knee felt okay and I knew that I would be able to declare myself fit for the final."
It proved to be a fairytale end to the season for O’Hea as she took the court in the WNBL grand final as the Flyers overpowered the Townsville Fire to be crowned champions.
"There was a lot of emotions after that win," she said.
"After the lockdowns, injuries, postponement of the Olympics and the whole hub season, there was a lot of emotion on our faces after that win and I think it was very evident how much it meant to us.
"It was such a great team to be a part of."
In the full interview with host Megan Hustwaite, O’Hea talks about the Tokyo Olympics, her special bond with WNBA superstar Liz Cambage and the personal loss which helped start the Lifeline round initiative.
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How to watch NBL LIVE on SBS
The interview is part of an SBS series - TAB Courtside 1v1, which gives fans a chance to get to know more about the unique personalities from the NBA, WNBA, NBL and WNBL, which help shape basketball in Australia.
Hustwaite, who has been covering all levels of Australian basketball for the past 13 years as a reporter, commentator and journalist, will helm the weekly show - every Thursday at 7pm (AEDT) via - where she interviews stars of the past, present and future.
SBS will again broadcast multiple regular-season NBA games per week in HD on SBS VICELAND and streamed live via SBS On Demand. Plus, every game of the upcoming 2020-21 NBL season will be LIVE, FREE and in HD via SBS On Demand, with select games also live on SBS VICELAND.
