Emotional Kopua still has unfinished business with Ferns
Casey Kopua has unfinished business in the black dress and has made it clear just what it means to her.
The veteran defender was named in a Silver Ferns squad for the first time since 2015 yesterday, having come out of retirement in August while recovering from a foot injury, and has her sights set on winning next year’s World Cup.
Kopua said she was ‘‘pretty emotional’’ after being told she’d made it and shed a few tears as she spoke about what it meant.
‘‘It is pretty cool,’’ she said after collecting herself.
‘‘Speaking to my family, they see the other side too, all the hard work and the choices that you make and to hear them say they’re proud, for me, is big.’’
The last of Kopua’s 101 appearances for the Silver Ferns came against the Australian Diamonds late in 2015.
She didn’t play netball in 2016 while having her daughter, Maia, then announced her international retirement early in 2017, shortly after returning to action with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic.
‘‘At the time I knew it was the right time for me to stop,’’ Kopua said.
‘‘But now that Maia is a bit older, there’s potential for me to do something that I haven’t done yet.
‘‘I haven’t won a gold medal at a World Cup, and that is what I’m here for and that’s what I’m going for and I will do anything for that.’’
The announcement of the squad for next month’s Quad Series in England came at the end of a week where the Ferns were put under the pump in camp.
Kopua said there was one particular exercise early in the week where any doubts about her comeback were erased.
‘‘It was in the yo-yo [endurance test]. I’m not the best person at that, but I knew we had a target and the lines were starting to veer and there were things starting to happen, but I looked to my right and there was somebody there that I wanted to be with, and I needed to be there, and there was no point where I didn’t want to be.
‘‘Then when we got into the netball stuff, I just thought ‘I am in the right place’. I do want to be a part of this team.’’
With Kopua unavailable, the Silver Ferns didn’t have the best of times, losing 26 of their 48 tests since her last outing while failing to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in April.
Plenty has changed since that failure, most notably Noeline Taurua taking over as coach, rekindling a relationship with Kopua that stretches back to the start of her playing career in 2003.
The former Ferns captain said she was impressed with the standards the team had set in camp this week, a clear sign the new coach was having an impact.
‘‘You need to do what needs to be done, not what you think needs to be done. My legs were starting to wobble and I was starting to lose sight a wee bit in that fitness session, but that’s what needed to be done for me to move forward and put money in the bank for later on.
‘‘The better I am, the better the team’s going to be, that’s the way I look at it, so if each of us can lift that little bit more, it can only help us.’’
The Quad Series begins for the Ferns on January 13, when they face hosts England in Liverpool.
‘‘I haven’t won a gold medal at a World Cup, and that is what I’m here for . . . and I will do anything for that.’’