Geitz knew Games heartbreak was her last

Laura Geitz knew the moment she walked off the court after Australia's Commonwealth Games heartbreak in April that her Diamonds days were done.

Former captain Geitz announced her retirement from international netball on Monday, a decision she said had been three years in the making.

The athletic defender made her debut for the Diamonds a decade ago and amassed 71 caps, including two World Cup wins (2011, 2015) and Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow in 2014.

She said she knew as far back as the 2015 World Cup in Sydney that she wanted to step away from international competition after the Gold Coast Games.

Geitz came agonisingly close to adding another title to her collection but the Diamonds lost a thrilling gold medal match to England courtesy of a last-second goal from Helen Housby, a shock result which left her and her teammates in tears.

"I did know, actually, when I walked off the court that that was probably the last time I would wear the green and gold," Geitz told reporters on Monday.

Geitz, 30, gave birth to her son Barney last year and had a lengthy break from netball but always planned to return for the Commonwealth Games.

"There was this desire for me to represent Australia again at a Commonwealth Games and particularly at home," she said.

"But I never had that same desire to go on past that moment.

"And whilst it wasn't the result that we would have loved, playing in front of my family and friends and in my home state and having my little boy in the crowd was very fitting for me and something that I'll treasure forever."

Geitz appears likely to play on for the Queensland Firebirds in Super Netball, admitting she isn't ready to give up netball altogether.

"To call it quits on everything would be particularly hard and that's a decision I'll have to mill over for a little bit longer yet," she said.

Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander said Geitz's presence around the Diamonds would be sorely missed.

"Laura has been a champion for the Diamonds, the ultimate professional, always setting the bench mark for other players, so they knew exactly what was expected to play at this level," Alexander said.