Pulse lose Tuivaiti to Australia
Another day, another New Zealand netballer commits to a team across the ditch.
In a significant blow for ANZ Premiership finalists Central Pulse, their shooter and former Silver Fern Cathrine Tuivaiti is the latest to be snapped up by an Australian team.
It was yesterday confirmed that the 30-year-old has signed with the Adelaide Thunderbirds for the next Super Netball season.
Tuivaiti, who spent most of her career in New Zealand with the Northern Mystics, will join veteran defender Leana de Bruin, whose deal was announced earlier this week, in Adelaide.
Last week, ace midcourter Laura Langman re-signed with the Sunshine Coast Lightning for a second season, meaning she won’t be eligible for the Silver Ferns in 2018.
While not a Kiwi, star Southern Steel shooter Jhaniele Fowler-reid is also leaving New Zealand’s flagship competition, with the Jamaican announcing this week she will play for the West Coast Fever next year.
Tuivaiti’s move to Australia isn’t just a loss for the Pulse, it’s another blow to the New Zealand competition, which hardly captured the public’s imagination. The Steel dominated from the start and comfortably defeated the Pulse in the final.
But New Zealand’s loss is Adelaide’s gain.
‘‘She [Tuivaiti] is one of the most crafty and cunning players going around,’’ Adelaide coach Dan Ryan said in a statement.
‘‘I think she’s going to be an absolute weapon for us in the circle. She’s incredibly strong . . . explosive and deceptive on the move and deadly accurate on the shot.’’
Tuivaiti was the most accurate New Zealand shooter during the recently completed national league, nailing 483 of her 409 attempts – an impressive 95 per cent.
However, it wasn’t good enough for Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby to name her as one of 25 triallists.
Tuivaiti’s latest snub continued her absence from the national side, which she played the last of her 24 games for in 2014, and it appears to have been the last straw.
There is also speculation Silver Ferns and Mystics shooter Maria Tutaia could opt to play in Australia next year.
Tutaia, who reportedly came close to signing for an Australian team this year, is engaged to Australian rugby player Israel Folau and wasn’t one of the first four contracted players announced by the Mystics earlier this week.