Rooney guns for success on court
"I had forgotten how fast the game actually is." Shooter Natalie Rooney, on netball
Olympic silver medallist Natalie Rooney has swapped her black and white shooting uniform for a black, blue and red netball dress.
Rooney’s appearance for Harlequins in the South Canterbury club competition on May 31 against Old Boys was her first in three years.
Despite being dead-eye dick with a gun in her hands, Rooney is not the team’s shooter, preferring to focus on the defensive end of the court.
‘‘I don’t want to go back to the shooting end. I don’t have time to go and shoot hoops, so I’m going to stick to the defence.’’
She appeared for Harlequins against Pleasant Point on June 7, playing half a match at goal keep and excelled, using her 1.88m height advantage too good effect.
Rooney is like fellow Olympian rower turned cyclist Hamish Bond in trying another sport, although it’s just at a club level, as come late July she will return to trap shooting.
‘‘I’ve really enjoyed it being back playing. I was thrown in the deep end last week against Old Boys and was running round not knowing what I was doing. However, against Point I was more comfortable on court.’’
Rooney, who has always enjoyed netball, made a massive impact with a number of deflections and intercepts, as she helped Harlequins to a 32-28 win.
She said it was great fun being able to return to the netball court.
‘‘I felt the Pleasant Point game was much more enjoyable as I had picked a few things up from in the past.’’
The 29-year-old would be sighted for a few more weeks yet. ‘‘I’m just helping them [Harlequins] out because they haven’t got many subs, so hopefully I’ll get to play a few more matches before I head away.’’
With shooting being an individual sport, Rooney said it was nice to be back in the team environment.
‘‘Yeah, I’m loving it. All the sports I played when I was younger were team based, apart from shooting, so it’s nice to experience that again.’’
Rooney said it’s quite a nice way to relax by playing netball, and her game is on the improve.
‘‘I had forgotten how fast the game actually is but I’m slowly getting more netball fitness under my belt.’’
In May, Rooney was named South Canterbury Sportsperson of the Year, following a massive 2016-17 season which saw her ranked world No 1 as well as her Olympic silver medal from Rio de Janeiro.