O’Connell standing tall for Steel
JENNIFER O’Connell was terrified just replacing Jhaniele Fowler in training matches at the Southern Steel last year.
Jamaican star Fowler is among the greatest shooters in world netball and O’Connell didn’t want to let anyone down deputising for her.
When Fowler left for Australian club, the West Coast Fever, over the off-season, the Steel were left with a huge dilemma: how do you replace the league’s best player?
The Otago-Southland side could easily have opted for an overseas import, but instead put its faith in second year player O’Connell, a homegrown prod- uct, who grew up on a 243-hectare sheep and beef farm in Kaiwera, near Gore.
O’Connell has repaid the trust, making the starting goal shoot bib her own.
She has been a consistent performer, slotting 268 goals from 316 attempts (85 per cent) – the fifth most in the competition. The 21-year-old has shot 30 goals or more in a game on four separate occasions. In Wednesday’s 62-57 loss to the Mystics, she landed 41/46, her highest output of the season.
‘‘I was really fortunate I got the opportunity to replace [Fowler],’’ O’Connell said. ‘‘I try not to disgrace myself knowing everyone who’s always watched the Steel have been like, ‘They’ve got Jhaniele’.’’
Fowler is no longer at the Steel but training alongside her and Silver Ferns shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit on a daily basis had been invaluable for her development.
‘‘That was so cool to be able to go from watching [Fowler] to then training with her. In training, even if I was subbed in sometimes I was terrified to be filling her shoes.
‘‘To have her around, so up close, and for her to be able to stand there and help me, was massive. She’s such a cool person and so talented.’’
O’Connell is part of a new wave of emerging Kiwi shooting talent. She is the second tallest player in the national premiership at 1.93m (Tactix shooter Ellie Bird is 1.96m), but knows height will get her only so far.
Strength and conditioning had been a major focus as she aims to absorb the increased physicality from defenders and compete at a high intensity for 60 minutes.
Having been a bench player last season, she was thrust into the spotlight last June after a van carrying six Steel players was struck by another vehicle at a Christchurch intersection.
O’Connell, who suffered minor bruising and whiplash in the accident, was healthy enough to play and gained her first top-level start.
She shone replacing the injured Fowler.
The defending champion Steel are well placed after nine games, sitting second on the table with a 6-3 record.
They face South Island rivals, the Tactix, in their next match in Dunedin today.