Burger feels fit for final
Karin Burger’s team-mates are regularly ripping her out for using so much strapping tape.
But the in-form Central Pulse wing defence said she was thankful she had the extra layer of protection, after avoiding what could have been a season-ending ankle injury.
There were immediate fears that Burger could miss Sunday’s ANZ Premiership final when the 25-year-old sprained an ankle against the Northern Mystics last week.
But Burger has been cleared of any serious injury and was back on her feet running at Pulse training yesterday.
‘‘I did it quite bad in the preseason which put me out for a few weeks so it was a bit iffy, there was a bit of swelling and a bit of pain but nothing that will keep me out of the final,’’ Burger said.
The Silver Ferns hopeful suffered the injury when she collided with two Mystics players while receiving a pass. She hobbled off the court, was treated by the physiotherapist on the sidelines and wore a moon boot as a precaution.
‘‘I had one player from the front and one from the back and I was squashed in between. I guess the landing space wasn’t really there and I just went over the ankle. But my team-mates always laugh at me for strapping up my ankles and that’s exactly why. If I didn’t have it strapped up like that it would have been a lot worse,’’ she said.
‘‘When you get injured usually you try get up and shake it off and you’re good to go but it just didn’t want to shake off this time. But seeing it was the final game I thought I should just go off. An ankle injury in netball happens quite regularly so medical staff are quite good at treating it. I wasn’t really worried about the final. I was just so annoyed at having to go off.’’
Although the Pulse are now busy preparing for the competition decider, their opposition won’t be known until after the Southern Steel and Mainland Tactix meet in tomorrow’s preliminary final.