Laura the leader: Langman voted Ferns captain
Returning Silver Ferns star Laura Langman has been voted in as captain of the national netball team under new coach Noeline Taurua.
Katrina Grant, the captain for the past two years while Janine Southby was in charge, will be vice-captain.
The two appointments will be reviewed at the end of the Constellation Cup series against Australia in October, the Silver Ferns’ final assignment of 2018.
Langman was selected through a voting process that included her team-mates, Taurua, Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie and head of high performance Keir Hansen.
When the Silver Ferns trained on Tuesday with media watching on, Langman was clearly taking charge, even though she was yet to be given the nod.
It was just her second day back with the team after two years away, thanks to her decision to play in Australia in 2017 and Netball NZ’S policy of only selecting domestic-based players, then to her decision at the end of last year to take a break from the top level of the sport altogether.
She was asked about the captaincy afterwards, and said it would be an honour to take on the role, but she was sure there would be plenty of help from her team-mates.
Tomorrow’s Quad Series test against England in Auckland will be Langman’s first game of toplevel netball since June 2017, when she and Taurua won the Australian Super Netball competition with the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
She said it had been great working with her long-time mentor again.
‘‘We’ve had some really awesome trainings, the intent’s been there and the intensity’s been there as well, so onwards and upwards,’’ Langman said.