GAME FOR MORE
Temepara and Leana’s return
Bursting into the Weekly’s photoshoot, a whirlwind of long limbs and tanned skin, Temepara Bailey and
Leana de Bruin are a flurry of excitement.
Fit, fabulous and raring to go, the former Silver Ferns are fresh from training. With only weeks to go until the first match of the ANZ Premiership, the newly minted Northern Stars teammates have been hitting the court hard in preparation.
However, pulling on matching bibs and dresses – for the first time since 2011 – was never the plan for either Temepara (43) or Leana (41). “Oh God, has it been that long since we last played together?!” Leana asks Temepara, her eyes wide as she lets out an incredulous laugh.
“I think so!” Temepara replies. “Wow. Okay. Wow!”
In fact, it’s officially been seven years since Temepara ‘retired’ from netball, however the pocket rocket midcourter − who’s still stubbornly known in netball circles as ‘Bubby’, despite the fact she’s now the grandmother of a four-year-old and a nine-month-old − can’t seem to escape the game she loves.
After answering an SOS from her former club, the Northern Mystics, in 2014, she’s once again stepping up, this time to help out the Stars, a club she’s also been assistant coach of for the last few years. The decision was huge – one that required her to move home from her new base in Thailand, and also one that asked for serious commitment to get her skills back up to a premier level.
“Yeah, I definitely didn’t expect to be back!” Temepara laughs. “It was really because of Grace [Kara] getting pregnant, which was super-exciting. But now it’s like, ‘Wow. I have to get out there and practise what I preach!’ As a coach and a commentator, you’re always going on about what players should be doing, so now I have to make sure I’m doing it!”
“I texted her when Grace had to withdraw,” Leana adds, grinning. “I remember saying, ‘So, are you going to replace Grace?’, not being serious or anything. And she texted back, saying, ‘I am!’ I rang her