Ekenasio eyes starting role with the Pulse
Ameliaranne Ekenasio is looking to nail down a starting spot with the Central Pulse after establishing herself as the first-choice goal attack with the Silver Ferns.
Ekenasio struggled for game time during last season’s ANZ Premiership, with Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie preferring teenagers Aliyah Dunn and Tiana Metuarau over the more experienced international shooter for the bulk of the campaign.
But Ekenasio’s elevation to Silver Ferns starter on the back of three strong performances at the recent Quad
Series has given the 28-year-old a new lease of life and she is now determined to reclaim a starting role at either goal attack or goal shoot to further stake her claim for Netball World Cup selection.
‘‘I’m feeling heaps better and I think physically I’m feeling heaps better than I was last season too, so I’m a lot more confident in myself and that’s the biggest thing. The solid court time for the Ferns cements for me that I can do it,’’ Ekenasio said ahead of the Pulse’s season opener against the Northern Mystics on Sunday.
‘‘It is an interesting position to be in. I didn’t really go into Ferns expecting to be starting, I was just pretty stoked to make the 12 again and I was just happy to go on tour. But then when I started it was even better and getting good combos on court was really good so it just kept getting better and better than what I had expected.
‘‘Now coming back to here there’s definitely a rivalry to get back on court. I’ll just have to take a similar attitude to last year and competition only makes us all better and it can only be a good thing for our team.
‘‘But all of us Ferns have spoken about the fact we really need to be out there playing full games and we need to be dominant in this whole tournament. I’ll definitely be working to make sure I’ve got as close to full games or if not full games then as much as possible because you don’t get too many chances to play at a World Cup. We really want to do really well and I want to put myself in a really good position to make the team in the first place.’’
With the core of their squad still intact, the Pulse will be looking to go one better than last season’s finals defeat against the Southern Steel, when the crumbled under the intense pressure to concede seven consecutive goals and lose 54-53.
While the nature of that defeat still stings, Ekenasio said the players has worked specifically on coping with pressure during the pre-season in attempt to right the wrongs from last season.
‘‘We’ve all got quite a bit of beef because we don’t want that to happen again,’’ she said. ‘‘We’ve been putting in so much work so hopefully we don’t end up in a similar position. But the end of the season is a long way away so as long as we’re making progress every week on the little things that nipped us in the final then I think we’ll put ourselves in a really good position.’’