Laura Geitz will have to prove herself worthy of a national team recall without playing any competitive netball.
It's a tricky situation for the former Diamonds captain but one she will embrace with the lure of Commonwealth Games gold in mind.
The Queensland defender missed the inaugural 2017 Super Netball season following the birth of her first child in February.
Geitz has committed to the Firebirds for the 2018 season but it doesn't begin until after the Diamonds' campaign on the Gold Coast in April.
The Firebirds star was not named in the Diamonds' national squad but coach Lisa Alexander has indicated there's scope for a return.
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"It's a different situation for me in terms of being selected and I'm having chats (with Alexander) about how it works," Geitz said at the Games netball draw announcement in Surfers Paradise on Wednesday.
"I have no competition before Comm Games that allows me to prove that I'm match-fit and match-hardened so it's unknown territory, so to speak.
"Come September we'll start our contracts with our domestic clubs and it'll just be a case of seeing how I'm tracking along and if I get the nod and am in a position to play."
The Diamonds begin their Games preparation against England in Brisbane on August 26 in a quad series that also features South Africa and New Zealand.
It will be a new-look Australia, given veteran shooter Natalie Medhurst was also omitted and incumbent captain Sharni Layton has since withdrawn, citing exhaustion.
Those absences could be advantageous for Geitz if Alexander decides more experience is required.
Geitz said Australia had a favourable draw for the Games, dodging an early meeting with New Zealand and England.
The Diamonds have been drawn with Jamaica, South Africa, Barbados, Fiji and Northern Ireland in pool A.
Pool B contains New Zealand, England, Malawi, Wales, Scotland and Uganda, with teams to face all the others in their group in the round-robin preliminary rounds before knockout play begins.
