Down at the local park, netball can often take on the aura of the most regimented of sports.
This view comes after hours of standing on the sideline as a netball parent, trying to fathom fastidious whistle-blowers, sometimes overbearing officials, and competitors who seem too afraid even to say "boo" for fear of being told off by those in charge.
Those in charge at the suburban netball court often have a loud, distinctive, threatening voice. To ensure everything is so clockwork, they like to use microphones, megaphones, whistles and sirens. Beware those who dare to try them on by being a little too flamboyant in anything they do, from the state of their uniform to their on-court behaviour.
No wonder netballers are often conciliatory characters, and the whole experience, even if so efficient, can be a bit numbing. You are scared to talk; actually do anything out of turn.
At the top level there is a marked difference. Self-expression is allowed. The shackles appear to have been loosened. There's an edge, conflict, plenty of expressive body language, freedom even.
Netball at ANZ Championship level is compelling viewing.
There's colour, movement, speed, non-stop vibrancy. Unlike its suburban version, netball at the highest level is not stop-start. It flows, making it one of the best live sporting experiences of all.
Like AFL, the ANZ Championship, the top-level netball competition in Australia and New Zealand, must be seen live. It is not quite as good on television. Being courtside you can comprehend the pace, the athleticism and the high skill. Mistakes at top pace are rare.
It is also worth being courtside to observe at close-hand the game's rich characters -- such as NSW Swifts goal keeper and Australia representative Sharni Layton. You do not get the full Layton impact on a game until you're actually there, when you are drawn immediately into watching the most un-netball of netballers.
First you hear her boom, boom, booming voice, constantly yelling out instructions during the game to teammates, the bench, anyone. It's a bit like a fog horn. Even in a crowded, screaming stadium, you always hear that voice, calling out codes, urging her players on.
"When I haven't had her in the Australian team, through injuries or illness, I always just feel that I haven't quite got my toolkit." Australia Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander
Then you observe how she attempts to intimidate her opponents, and also get herself into the zone. She bounds around them. Jumping around them. Bumping into them. Getting into their face. Restricting their space. Tagging them. On the prowl. Reminding them that she is always there, somewhere, not that far away. They can never forget she is there. Her role is as the enforcer.
Adding to the scene of domination are her dark shoes, dark socks, ultra punk. They have a bovver-boy look about them. She stands out. She can be rough and tough, but there is also innate beauty in her netball manoeuvres. She can pirouette with the best of them in a bid to upset her opponent as they set themselves up for a goal shot. She can leap, bound, sprint here there and everywhere. Often there are elbows going all ways. And she succeeds in distracting, disorientating her immediate opponent, prompting some distance between the Swifts score line and the other team.
No wonder she is one of Australia's most popular sportswomen, an important cog in ensuring the national netball team remains ranked No. 1 in the world, ahead of New Zealand and England, and why the NSW Swifts are a sell-out whenever they play at home.
As Australia coach Lisa Alexander told ESPN: "Sharni is quite a character."
Swifts coach Rob Wright added: 'Sharni is a different personality. But that is often the case with elite athletes in many sports. And she is different in a really good way."
Off the court, Layton is the most embracing of figures but still has no qualms in explaining she's "a bit of a bogan", loves "being a mongrel on the court", and revels in intimidating her opponent.
Also off the court, it's that voice that drags you in, but also forces some to move away. We meet on Saturday morning -- the day before the Swifts host Adelaide Thunderbirds -- at a coffee shop near where she lives in Sydney.
It wasn't crowded, but four different groups who sat at the next table soon moved to quieter spots in the room when they realised an interview was going on, and Sharni was in full flow. She wasn't unbearably loud, but that voice does resonate. Heads turn.
"I've always had this deep, deep voice," Layton tells ESPN.
"Even when I was 15-16, I was always yelling. I just want to encourage my teammates; and, for the opposition, intimidate them. It's about body language."
"It's also about 'getting my head right into the game'.
"I missed out on some teams when I was young, and that toughens you up. I've always said it was my attitude and mindset which got me to where I was, rather than my skill level. And my skill level has gradually got better over time."
The voice also has something to do with her other serious pursuit -- equestrian, in particular eventing -- which involves the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country and show-jumping. As a teenager, to get her horse's attention in a paddock near her Melbourne childhood home, the best way to be heard was to be heard. That again meant yelling.
Her dream was to make the Australian Olympic equestrian team.
"Even when I moved to Canberra to go to the Australian Institute of Sport to pursue netball, I took my horse with me. My aim was to play World Youth Cup at netball, quit the game and then focus on equestrian, because I never believed I would make it to this level in netball.
"In the end it became too hard. I wasn't doing well at equestrian. I wasn't doing well at netball. So I decided to focus on netball, and go back to riding later. That's still my motto - 10 years on.
"I know I'm never going to ride in the Olympics, and I'm cool with that, but one day would like to do something like the Adelaide International event."
The 'Rebel Yell' instead confined itself to the boundaries of a netball court, as she moved from Melbourne Vixens to Adelaide for four years, "where I was playing good netball, but not great netball", and then to Sydney in 2014 because she "wanted to play outstanding netball".
It didn't take long for the Swifts players and crowds to embrace the Victorian. A lot of that had to do with her out-there behaviour.
"My prime motivation is to win, and that means being dominant. So I want to make my opponent's life hell for the next 60 minutes. I want her to know from the moment I walk out from the warm-up that I am watching everything she is doing. I know if my opponent has nervous habits. If they're getting nervous, I pick up on that and try to take advantage of that. It's about getting into her head. A massive mind game.
"Opponents know that's how I play ... it's no big secret. As I'm not as tall as some players, I also have to keep moving. I attempt to restrict player's space also to confuse the thrower. The goal shooter-goal keeper encounter is like a game of chess. You're constantly watching each other, trying to get in the best position, and being in the best spot to either get or spoil the ball."
"I'm the only Sharni, mate. There's no other Sharnis out there. Teams do have girls who talk, but I was just born with this voice, and I like to make it heard."
Do opponents ever react to your aggro?
"Not really. That doesn't happen in netball. There's occasionally a few words, but nothing major. I did get done once by an umpire when playing for Australia for intimidation at the World Cup -- for yelling. That was funny, because I was actually yelling at a teammate. I suppose it was eventually going to happen because I run my game on intimidation.
"Still having a little bit of mongrel helps me. There's a long-running joke in netball that the defenders are the mongrels and the shooters are the princesses. So if the shooters are thinking about you and not the ball, then you've already half won the battle."
Do other teams have goal keepers yelling out instructions?
"No. I'm the only Sharni, mate. There's no other Sharnis out there. Teams do have girls who talk, but I was just born with this voice, and I like to make it heard."
There are ramifications for such an aggressive approach. She's suffered a dislocated elbow, ruptured ankle ligaments, a slipped disc in her back, and shoulder surgery. That hasn't softened her, though, believing that adversity makes you more resilient, tougher. She cites how past Australian players overcame perceived frailties to become netballing legends.
"My inspirations growing up was Liz Ellis, because of her anticipation. She was shorter than a lot of the goal shooters she was up against. But that never stopped her from getting the ball through her agility and ability. That was always inspiring.
"And I always fricking loved Mo'onia Gerard, because of her intimidation factor. I played with her in Adelaide and her influence was crucial. I loved everything she represented. She would walk out on court, and everyone would think: 'S---, Mo'onia's here!!'
"So I've grabbed bits of other player's game, such as Liz and Mo'onia's, which fits in with my personality and capabilities."
Layton doesn't seem to care too much about other people's perceptions about her. She happily admits to possessing some hoonish traits.
"Yeah, I'm a bit of a bogan. I love getting about in my trakkies, T-shirt, thongs and stuff. It's just how I talk. I talk like an 'ocker' Aussie. Whenever I move, people ask me what part of the country I'm from. I say 'no I'm from Melbourne'. I blame 'Kazza', my mum Karin, for that, because mum's a country girl from Mansfield. I think being around ponies when I was a kid turned me into a bit of a bogan as well. I just do stupid stuff all the time."
Not surprisingly, such a vivid, expressive figure was at the centre of last year's ANZ Championship Play Like a Girl television campaign, with the final shot focusing on her face and a distinct bruised and bloodshot left eye.
This wasn't the work of a clever make-up artist; it was real, a black eye following a mishap at training when she received an elbow to the face a few days earlier. Nonetheless, it prompted controversy, and media concerns that the ad promoted violence rather than 'toughness'.
"If that was a guy, no-one would have said anything about it. When it happened, they asked me before making the ad whether we should cover it up. I said 'no, what's the point?' I got it playing sport. Why try to cover it up? You couldn't cover it up. I had a bloodshot eye. It also reminded everyone how tough netball can be. After all, two weeks ago I accidentally broke a teammate's [Abbey McCulloch] nose on the court through a head clash.
"If people haven't seen me play, I could see how the TV ad could be misconstrued. But for anyone who knows netball, and knows how I play, they would know: 'Sharni's run into someone. What's new?'
And that's exactly the way the Australian and Swifts team officials want her to remain.
Australia coach Lisa Alexander has been involved with Layton for a long time, and is "proud of how Sharni has taken her opportunities during her career, and always takes on the challenges".
"When I haven't had her in the Australian team, through injuries or illness, I always just feel that I haven't quite got my toolkit," Alexander told ESPN.
"She just provides that great passion.
"The girls love that passion she brings. It is unparalleled. Her desire to win, do the best that she can, and to really play her role in the team, is second to none.
"In the Swifts, she knows that her voice helps. But sometimes in the Australian environment it is a little bit different. She may not be quite as loud, simply because international netball is not the appropriate space. But you will still hear it.
"It was important when we were in England recently with our younger line-up that she used her voice. But what she did well in the third quarter of the first Test, when it was pretty tight, was that she just really dug her heels in and pulled out some intercepts, tips, deflections and loose ball pick-ups -- which we just needed. That showed to me real leadership. She was able to lift her game to another level ... and it's not just about the yelling. She is such a great team person."
Swifts coach Rob Wright says Layton is a crucial core of his organisation. And not only for her netball abilities.
"As hard as she is on court, she's a bit of a softy off court," Wright told ESPN.
"She cares about people, the whole person and not just about netball. We want a good side, but we also want 12 players who are well grounded. Sharni epitomises that, and leads by example -- on and off the court.
"Her career at times has been tough, as she has suffered some major injuries, but that has driven her to be the very best she can. I'm really pleased we have her on our team."
Layton is also a great promoter of the game, which even saw her in England when playing for Australia in January having her own fan club of British supporters.
On Sunday, at the Swifts home venue in Homebush, she was again the crowd favourite. She received the biggest cheers, especially when succeeding in intercepts, deflections or loose pick-ups.
Before the start of the Thunderbirds match, she was dancing to the stadium music. Then it was outright confrontation with Thunderbirds goal shooter Carla Borrego. There were shirt-fronts. Hip-and-shoulders bashes that would make any AFL player proud. And endless bellowing. If she were out-manoeuvred by Borrego, she would slap her hands in disgust. If someone in the Swifts excelled, up would go the right fist in triumph. With the Swifts well ahead, she was replaced with five minutes to go and went to the bench. On the sideline, she was even louder, screaming advice to her defenders. It was exhausting just watching her.
After the 68-44 win, she was happily blowing kisses to the crowd.
"We're just wanting to put out the best product," Layton said.
"It's different to what those who have Saturday netball in their head, in regards with all the girls running around, the mums, the old big white skirts and the big bloomers ... you can't be as physical at Saturday netball because you're playing on concrete. You're not going to be throwing your bodies around, like we can on an indoor court.
"Since we've become semi-professional, we've been able to put so much time into the gym to become better athletes, and be able to produce a better product.
"If we can make it more exciting, and provide more personalities, the more people will want to get around it. That's what I try to bring to my game. I try to make netball even more interesting for people to watch."
No argument here!