Almost anything Jordan Cransberg has done, her twin sister Zoe has repeated a year or so afterwards. That includes the high point of state 19/U selection and the terrible low of a ruptured ACL.
“We pretty much did the same thing up until, well … maybe forever!’’ Jordan says. “It’s kind of like once one’s in the team the other one has to be as well. It’s so weird. Hopefully we keep following that path until we catch up to each other now.’’
Which brings us, happily to this year, following the disappointment of 2020, when the coronavirus denied Jordan her training partner role with the Queensland-based Melbourne Vixens, and thwarted Zoe’s VNL comeback from her post-surgical rehab.
Together, as it has been so often for the Melbourne University Lightning midcourters, they have been named in the Victorian Fury squad for next month’s reincarnated ANL championship in Traralgon (with Covid-free-fingers crossed that it goes ahead).
So, given that Jordan’s knee reconstruction cost the Cransbergs the chance to share Victoria’s 2018 nationals triumph in Adelaide, how significant would joint selection in the team be, should both make the cut?
“It would mean everything,’’ says Zoe, the more quietly-spoken sister, older by 17 minutes, and (most importantly) taller by almost one centimetre.
“Especially after 2018, not having Jordan there, I get so emotional thinking about being able to play with her at a level like that. It’s so special to me and I’d absolutely love it if we got selected in the team.’’
What a lovely, high-achieving pair they are.
1. Smart: Zoe has just completed her Bachelor of Science, and may seek to study physiotherapy next; Jordan has graduated from her bio-medicine degree to the first year of her medical studies.
2. Friendly: Able to laugh about how they have no idea whether they are identical twins (the suspicion is yes - just look at them) and the fact they enjoy ribbing dad Peter (who played 79 VFL/AFL games for Essendon before his career was ended prematurely by, yes, a torn ACL), that their own knee issues are genetically based.
3. Honest: ask one to describe the other as both players and people, and Jordan admits she has more “mongrel” than her “nice, nice” sibling, while Zoe says that anyone who knows them both who says that Jordan seems older, and more driven, while she is a little more composed, and still figuring her out where her non-netball life will head.
Netball-wise, Jordan is a GA turned WA/C, and Zoe a GD turned C/WD. They play so differently, both agree, that there is less of a rivalry than a habit of pushing the other to be better, and celebrating every achievement along the way.
“Jordan’s someone who’s just go, go go, and always using those dynamic movements, so powerful, and I think I’m more patient, just filling space where I need,’’ says Zoe. “It’s almost similar off the court.’’
Adds Jordan: “When we play together I like to do a lot of the attacking and Zoe’s more calm and composed and really, really strong defensively.
“Zoe is very very nice, and very nice on the court, and we kind of joke that if we were playing each other Zoe would be like ‘go, Jordan, you have the ball’, and I’d be like ‘yeah, I’m taking it!’ So it’s not that I’m mean or anything like that, it’s more that I’m probably a bit more dominant, I guess.’’
The Cransberg twins were basketballers first, not following their older sister Ashleigh into netball at local club Aberfeldie until they were about 13. They combined both sports at rep level until Jordan’s knee surgery; netball becoming the focus thereafter, and head coach Elissa Kent’s ‘MU’ the club both love.
There is some crossover in positional terms these days, but also great understanding between the lifelong teammates and former bedroom-sharers. Confusion, too, for the opposition at times, especially when a substitution occurs.
Zoe: “I’m sure they have no idea. Especially if we’re playing centre and wing attack, I’m sure that the defenders are like ‘I don’t know which one’s mine!’. Jordan usually goes for a bun and I usually wear a ponytail, but other than that we look very similar, especially on the netball court. A lot of people have said they can only tell apart by our shoes.’’
Jordan: “We had a coach after one game going ‘this player is everywhere’, thinking that there was only one of us... so it can actually work in our favour! Sometimes my defender will pick up Zoe thinking that it’s me, and vice versa, so it means the other one’s free, which is quite good.’’
The constant is that the 21-year-olds are always, always, on Team Cransberg; knowing instinctively where the other will be, and enjoying an unspoken, intrinsic connection and understanding.
Zoe: “Because we’ve been playing together our whole lives you kinda know what the other is gonna do and it just makes it so much easier to play with each other. And it’s just fun playing with your sister, too.
“I don’t feel competitive with Jordan, even though we started out at opposite ends but have both moved into the midcourt; I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry, because I am just so happy whenever Jordan makes a team or she plays really well.
"I think it’s just sometimes hard being always compared, because I’ve always kind of been one step behind, in a way. It’s just like that extra bit of drive, knowing that if she can do it I can kind of do it, too, in a way.’’
Jordan: “It’s amazing playing with someone that’s your best friend and you just know each other so well that you kind of know where each other’s gonna go, or you’re always there for them.
"Off the court you’re like that and then on the court you kind of just fall into that as well - that we’re always kind of an option for each other. It’s pretty incredible. I feel really lucky that we’re able to play with each other and to play together at the level that we do.’’
Written by Linda Pearce
