Cullen’s future with Ferns in balance

Kayla Cullen’s future with the Silver Ferns is in the balance.

Having signed with the New South Wales Swifts to play in the 2020 Super Netball League at the expense of her Silver Ferns eligibility, Cullen would now need to apply for dispensation from Netball New Zealand should she want to return.

Captain Laura Langman and Maria Folau are the only two players to have been granted that right.

Cullen struggled to catch the eye of Silver Ferns head coach Noeline Taurua when she returned to full fitness after suffering a persistent knee injury. Missing out on selection for the 2019 Netball World Cup squad, the 27-year-old moved to Sydney to join fiance and NRL star Shaun Johnson at Cronulla.

It’s just about getting the timing right as to whether she comes back or not, but I still see her in the mix. Silver Ferns head coach Noeline Taurua on Kayla Cullen

“Even though she is playing in the Australian system, all eyes will be on her,” Taurua said at a Silver Ferns training session in Auckland yesterday ahead of their Constellation Cup test against Australia at Spark Arena tonight. “She’s still young and she won’t be lost to us.

“It’s just about getting the timing right as to whether she comes back or not, but I still see her in the mix.”

Cullen has played more than 100 senior games across the transtasman and New Zealand competitions.

Meanwhile, Folau could be calling time on her netball career sooner than expected, having not signed to a franchise for the 2020 ANZ Premiership or Super Netball seasons.

Folau won’t be returning to the Adelaide Thunderbirds next year after playing her final season with the Northern Mystics in 2018.

The 32-year-old is still available for Ferns selection until the end of January’s Quad Series in England but could announce her pending retirement as early as next month at the end of the Constellation Cup.

Unsure herself of Folau’s plans, Taurua said they were taking things one campaign at a time.