Teen star steels up to leave home
Tiana Metuarau ‘‘ cried most days’’ as she agonised over her ANZ Premiership future.
The Central Pulse rising star would stay out with friends longer than usual, wanting to avoid having the conversation with her mum, former Silver Ferns coach and current Netball Central director of high performance Waimarama Taumaunu, when she got home.
‘‘I think I cried most days and every time someone would bring up the conversation about moving and where I was going to go, and telling me that I needed to make a decision, I’d get really annoyed,’’ Metuarau said.
But it soon dawned that she had to leave the comfort of the Pulse, the hometown team she has proudly represented for four years, if she wanted to further her promising netball career after another season riding the bench.
After weighing up her options, Metuarau opted to sign for Southern Steel for 2021, hoping a return to the starting seven and more regular court time will elevate her into Silver Ferns contention.
She said Taumaunu was nothing but supportive, putting her daughter’s best interests ahead of the Pulse.
‘‘Mum’s a smart lady, she knows me really well and understands that I really want to play. At no point did she ever try to keep me here, although the public assumption might be that she would try.
‘‘Being in the Pulse for the past couple of years and sitting on the bench, you get over it. I was lucky enough that I did get an opportunity down south, and mum and dad were really supportive of me going down there, so I’m really excited.’’ The 19-yearold goal-attack will base herself in Dunedin and commute to Invercargill, along with Renee Savai’naea, her close friend who is also moving south from the Pulse in search of a bigger role.
After making her Pulse debut as a 16-year-old schoolgirl out of Wellington East Girls’ College, Metuarau’s minutes have gradually dried up over each of the past three seasons, ultimately costing her a place in the Silver Ferns development squad for this week’s Cadbury Netball Series.
She will offer some muchneeded experience to the New Zealand under-21 team instead.
It’s not that Metuarau’s talents have declined, she has just found herself stuck behind Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio in her preferred position. Aliyah Dunn, who actually started out at the Steel, has been the first-choice goal-shoot for three years now.
Metuarau said her demotion to the bench was particularly difficult during the 2019 season, when the Pulse went on to win the first of their two premiership titles.
‘‘Last year when we won in Porirua, that season for me was really tough because it was a totally new setting for me. I had never been benched, I had never not played consistently and never not started consistently.
‘‘I think I’m quite grateful that I did go through what I did that season because it set me up to prepare for the future when things aren’t going my way, at least now I understand it.
‘‘ I’ve learned that you just need to be a good person and a good team player . . . ’’