The pass, with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, opened the door for Brice to nail the match-winner and snap a 51-all deadlock. 

It sealed an epic come-from-behind victory for the Giants, who trailed by six goals deep in the fourth quarter to secure a finals shot against the Vixens.

“[Coach] Julie [Fitzgerald] was probably having a heart attack but it was all under control, we knew what we were doing… I can say that now,” Pettitt joked.

“When I caught the ball I had a glimpse up at the scoreboard and it had six or seven seconds left on the clock so I knew we didn’t have time for an extra pass. I just knew I had to get it in to give the shooters time to shoot. It all happened so quickly, Krissy grabbed the ball and nailed the shot.”

The Bega High School alum can speak with authority having spent her entire career in the circle before proving a revelation in the mid-court in the Giants late-season charge.

An experiment at first, the shift has proved effective enough that Fitzgerald handed the former Diamonds shooter her first start at wing attack against the Magpies, a move that ultimately proved a masterstroke. 

“When Kim [Green] got injured we had Taylah [Davies] and Sara [Wall] in there and it was just something where we wanted to have a different option,” Pettitt said.

“Me playing wing attack is so unorthodox that wing defenders probably don’t know what they’re doing because I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s just a real change-up to our structure.

“Julie threw me in there for quarters here and there to see what happened and thought we’d give it a crack to start the game last week and it worked for us.

“It certainly keeps me on my toes. I’ve been playing in the national league for 16 years and never had to play outside the circle. I definitely didn’t think I’d be doing this this late in my career but it’s been fun.”

Pettitt again featured at WA against the Vixens and was influential in the Giants’ 65-57 win, bringing the Vixens’ fairytale run to a bitter finish. 

It was the first time the club had lost at home as the Giants upstaged their highly fancied opponents to earn their way through to the grand final against the Lightning in Brisbane on Saturday.