Back to the future
It wasn’t so much about the uncapped players at the announcement of the new Silver Ferns squad yesterday.
Instead, the focus was on two players who weren’t at the get together and a coach who can’t be named.
Casey Kopua has come out of international retirement and Laura Langman, 32, has been given special exemption to play for New Zealand again, even though she’s not aligned with a team.
The next coach will be Noeline Taurua, but that announcement can’t be made until she finishes up with the Sunshine Coast Lightning in Australia.
So while she obviously wasn’t at the Silver Ferns squad naming, where the media turnout was akin to something only the All Blacks could muster, neither were Langman, who was in Hamilton working at her day job at an accountancy firm, nor Kopua, who’s recovering from a foot injury.
Kopua and Langman were available by phone though, and the former said she was delighted to be back in the fold after a year away. At the age of 33, Kopua feels she still has something to offer to the Silver Ferns and came to the conclusion to give it another go.
‘‘I didn’t want to have any regrets in my netball career,’’ Kopua said.
‘‘Speaking to my village, as I call it, the people that matter to me and give me their honest opinion, I wanted to seek another opportunity to wear the black dress again.’’
Being away from the Silver Ferns while they had their dreadful Commonwealth Games earlier this year wasn’t easy for Kopua, as players she knew well went through the lowest points of their careers.
‘‘Seeing some of my best friends in that situation, I didn’t even know what to say or text to them.
‘‘But I want to be a part of getting netball back on a positive and enjoy the game.’’
Langman also didn’t enjoy watching the Commonwealth Games as a spectator.
‘‘No one would have experienced it as tough as the girls there,’’ Langman said.
‘‘Obviously, it pulls on the heart strings. It feels like I would be out of order to comment, but it would have been tough and my heart went out to the girls.’’
Langman came back to New Zealand from playing for the Sunshine Coast last November, but instead of joining up with an ANZ Premiership team, decided to take a break and says this helped invigorate her.
‘‘It’s been massive and time I’ve really relished.
‘‘It’s been massively refreshing and I’ve really enjoyed my time,’’ she said.
When asked how long it would take her to get back to her best on a netball court, Langman said she wasn’t sure. ‘‘Ask me that in a few months – your guess is probably as good as mine,’’ she said.
‘‘I definitely know I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I feel like I’ve got time and I’m willing, so I feel like that’s a good start.’’
Three uncapped players were named – Pulse 18-year-old shooter Aliyah Dunn, wing defence Karin Burger (Pulse), and Mystics wing attack Elisapeta Toeava, the sister of former All Black Isaia Toeava.