Langman on Magic’s radar

The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic hope home is where the heart is for returning Silver Ferns great Laura Langman.

Netball Waikato-Bay of Plenty (WBOP) chief executive Rohan West confirmed to Stuff, the Magic were in initial talks with Langman’s agent, Garth Gallaway. The 141-test midcourter is set to represent New Zealand for the first time in nearly two years next month after being named in their Quad Series squad.

The Magic would love to add her signature to that of fellow Ferns returnee Casey Kopua, who has committed for 2019.

Langman has been granted a special exemption to play domestically in either New Zealand or Australia next year leading into the World Cup in July.

The 32-year-old was barred from representing the Ferns in 2017 because she was competing in Australia’s Super Netball. She took time out from the sport this year to focus on her accounting career and other interests outside netball.

The Magic shape as frontrunners among Kiwi teams for Waikato-raised Langman, who resides in Hamilton, but the threat of Australia’s glitzy competition will hold strong appeal.

Langman won a title with the Noeline Taurua-coached Sunshine Coast Lightning in the inaugural season of Super Netball last year. She also played for the New South Wales Swifts in the final year of the trans-Tasman league in 2016.

West was ‘‘optimistic’’ about the Magic’s chances and said Langman had been pencilled into their 2019 positional depth chart wish list.

Langman was presented with a Netball WBOP service award in June, along with Kopua, former Silver Ferns coaching great Taini Jamison, and Monica Leggat, for her huge contribution to netball in the region.

The drawcard of staying home and playing for the Magic, who she represented from 2008-13 in the trans-Tasman league, as well as in the former domestic competition, could prove critical.

‘‘She’s local, she’s working here, and she’s got a lot of friends and family here,’’ West said. ‘‘We’re trying to have those discussions around an entire lifestyle support package, rather than just pure lots of zeros on a salary. We’re starting to feel our way through what a complete package could look like.’’

Should the Magic secure Langman, they would boast a stellar centre-wing defence connection with Fern Sam Sinclair a certainty to return.