LIGHTNING midcourter Jacqui Russell managed to squeeze a whole lot of life into her six years in the elite netball wilderness.

Russell is on the verge of claiming her second premiership medal when the Sunshine Coast take on the West Coast Fever in Sunday’s Suncorp Super Netball grand final in Perth.

She was part of the Queensland Firebirds side that won the 2011 ANZ Championship and only reappeared at the top level this year with the Sunshine Coast.

The departure of Kiwi great Laura Langman and injuries threw the 30-year-old a lifeline that she feared would never come.

In between trips to national league grand finals, Russell played in England, travelled, got her second university degree, worked as a high school teacher, broke her leg and starred in the second-tier national league and Queensland state league competitions.

“It’s a very different story to most other netballers that were playing in 2011 and are still playing at this level,’’ Russell said.

“When I came back from England I felt like I still had my foot in the door but I broke my leg in 2014 which was a bit of a setback.

“I thought my chances of getting back to that level were probably done.

“It was frustrating because I felt like I had more to give. I was playing well but I wasn’t really getting that chance to go any further.

“So I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen.’’

But like a bolt out of the blue, the Lightning came calling with a vacancy in their midcourt.

Russell — who attended Moreton Bay College in Manly in Brisbane’s southeast and was a product of the Queensland junior representative pathways — had trained with the club at the back-end of 2017 after a completing a season in the state league.

While on holidays in Europe over Christmas, she was signed as a member of the wider training squad before being elevated into the 10-strong roster.

Russell said the match-like intensity and physicality at Lightning training was a key to the club’s success and it had been “business as usual’’ in the build-up to the 2018 decider.

She said the culture led by head coach Noeline Taurua ensured nobody panicked when the Lightning lost their opening three matches by small margins.

“We always knew that once we found our footing, we would be OK. It’s been wonderful to be a part of this group and see how they handle everything,’’ Russell said.

The road to the 2018 decider for the Lightning has been in stark contrast to the one travelled by Russell and the Firebirds in 2011 when Queensland went through the season undefeated.