How a former Warrnambool basketballer piqued Australian netball attention

Former Warrnambool Seahawk Liam Killey - now playing Big V for championship grade side Melbourne University - has been invited to a Netball Australia camp in Canberra in late May.

Killey, 27, impressed for the Victorian men's side at the netball national championships, making the all-star seven.

The 206-centimetre goal shooter will now attend a four-day camp in the hope of earning selection on an Australian Huskies team.

It caps off a whirlwind rise in the sport for the Melbourne-based salesman who is playing locally for Altona Falcons.

"I picked up netball a couple of years ago and it was a social comp and then I went and played M-League which is the premier men's and mixed netball league in Vic," he told The Standard.

"I tried out for the state team and made the reserves squad last year - I was still pretty raw at that point.

"I ended up winning the ressies, made the all-star seven for that and tried out again late last year and was lucky enough to make the open squad and go up and have a very successful nationals.

"I think it was the first time Vic had won in about six years and I made the all-star seven team again and have been lucky enough to be invited to the Kelpies' selection camp. I think there's about 30 people who go up."

Killey, who moved to Melbourne in 2014, said netball had become another sporting passion and he was excited about where the men's game was tracking.

He plays against defenders who might be shorter than him but are "incredibly athletic with a huge vertical jump".

"Learning a new sport is interesting and netball benefits the tall (people) a little bit," he said.

"All the skills I learned from basketball over the years - a lot correlates over. The stepping in netball absolutely kills you as a basketballer.

"It took me 12 months...now I have it down pat. Being a goal shooter probably cancels out a few of the deficiencies I have in basketball - I don't have to run. It's just using your body and your brain."

Basketball remains a big part of his sporting schedule, lining up with Melbourne University throughout the winter.

Killey debuted for Warrnambool Seahawks as a teenager and played for three seasons.

He joined Big V roster Diamond Valley when he moved to the city and also spent time with NBL1 club Nunawading.

The Seahawks' Country Basketball League team, which plays in summer as a feeder program to the Big V, has had Killey services at times in recent seasons too.