Perth Lynx co-captain Amy Atwell excited to be fit again after knee surgery and is primed for WNBL round one

Perth Lynx co-captain Amy Atwell says she finally feels like her old self after spending all of last season playing with a significant knee injury. Atwell narrowly avoiding a second knee reconstruction on the eve of round one and spent the first month on the sidelines. The Olympic bronze medallist never looked herself upon return, with her agility, speed and famed three-point shooting all being impacted upon. But post-season surgery allowed Atwell to spend the winter recovering and she will enter Sunday’s opening game of the season against Adelaide with renewed confidence. “I’m getting close to being back to the usual Amy Atwell. Now my shot is feeling good and I’m feeling good,” she explained. “(Coach) Ryan (Petrik) described it as me playing with my hands tied behind my back last year. My freedom of movement was compromised. I was a half-step slow. I couldn’t create the same separation I usually would which I really struggled with. “At the end of the season, I had to make a decision whether to have a full procedure which was six-to-nine months of rehab and something that might not work, or a clean up. I had fraying on my ACL so they had to clean that up and then have me do a solid block of rehab. That’s the option I went with because sometimes less is more when you have the amount of trauma in your knee that I do. “I didn’t run for three months. They really de-loaded me and gave my knee a chance to chill out and recover.” The Lynx need Atwell to display the form that saw her recruited to the WNBA because they will enter Sunday’s match missing two of their stars. Perth’s MVP from last season, Ally Wilson, and defensive guard Steph Gorman are both unavailable due to injury. The Lynx will unveil their new style of play after recruiting a significantly taller team this season. Import Yemimah Morris is 198cm and the club is eagerly awaiting the arrival of 210cm Chinese star Han Xu. Defensive beast Brianna Turner has signed as the import replacement until Xu arrives next month and Atwell said Perth’s style will be a lot different to the past. “We’re going to be a huge group. I’ve never played with that type of size throughout my career,” she said. “It’s super exciting and will bring a new challenge with a slightly different playing style. I think it will make my life easier. It will draw attention off me and they’ll set some big screens for all of us.”