Bishop has cared for her one-year-old niece Zala since she was two days old for personal reasons. But she quit the Opals world championship campaign currently under way in Turkey after Basketball Australia introduced a policy that meant she would have to fund childcare, the costs of flights and accommodation for a nanny.

The 25-year-old admitted on Monday she "wishes she was there" instead of watching the Opals' world championship campaign from the couch, especially given they're undefeated before Friday night's quarter-final with Canada.

"It does depend on her [Zala], but a lot more depends on some things from the other end," Bishop said.

"We'll wait and see. I'll do what I can for the Caps and then work on the Basketball Australia stuff when the time comes.

"Sitting there watching them at home I wish I was there, but obviously things didn't work out.

"It's great to see the girls do so well and I hope to be back and part of the Opals program next year, [but] obviously it depends on a lot of things.

"It is tough, but I made a decision to stay home because I wanted to do the best thing for Zala.

"I'm not dwelling on anything, I'm sitting on the couch watching all the games and hopefully I'll be a part of it in the future."

While her international career is on hold, the Capitals are set to benefit the most.

Bishop has completed the entire pre-season before the October 17 season opener at Melbourne Boomers, which is critical given injured fellow Lauren Jackson will miss the first few games.

She scored 24 points in Canberra's 67-55 pre-season win over Sydney on Saturday, and said the childcare package has significantly improved her preparation.

"It's huge, really big. It's made a big difference in what I've been able to do training-wise, and hopefully that will show on the court," she said.

"She's now at that age where she's running away and I try not to bring her to training too much. Having childcare in the contract has helped a lot."

Capitals coach Carrie Graf backed Bishop to have a long international career, but said the lay-off has her ready to guide the side back to the play-offs.

"Abby's an Australian Olympic player, an Opal, and will be for a long time," Graf said.

"It was unfortunate it didn't work out for her for the worlds this year, but from a Capitals standpoint, having her in our lead-up is critical.

"She's managing being a single parent exceptionally well, and setting herself up to have one of the biggest years of her career to date."

Graf was Opals coach when they were upset by Czech Republic in the 2010 world championship quarter-finals, Australia going home without a medal at a major event for the first time since the 1992 Olympics.

"There'll be a burn for the Opals [who played in 2010], that fresh memory of what can happen in quarter-finals which makes tournament play so exciting," Graf said.

"Underdogs have a great chance in quarter-finals. It's the biggest pressure game for highly-ranked teams.

"Regardless of whether you've been part of a winning one [Opals team] or once which took a hard knock, you still want to see them do well."