Steel wait on result of star shooter’s injury
Southern Steel officials are still waiting to hear the extent of a knee injury that sidelined star English shooter George Fisher.
The 24-year-old had to leave the court in the third quarter of a preseason tournament game against the New South Wales Swifts in Invercargill on Saturday.
She fell after solid contact with an opponent while striving to receive a pass.
Fisher appeared to be in pain after hurting her left knee and received immediate medical treatment.
The game was held up briefly while she was assisted to leave the court.
Coach Reinga Bloxham advised on Sunday that Steel management would continue to monitor Fisher’s knee injury over the next 24 to 28 hours.
The club is waiting for results from medical imaging to determine the extent of the injury and expect to provide an update later this week.
The Steel beat the Swifts 74-42, but the Australian side had to call on several local players after all but one of their regulars tested positive for Covid ahead of their journey to New Zealand.
Bloxham’s Steel squad play the Central Pulse – the current ANZ Premiership champions – in another pre-season game on Sunday.
Losing Fisher would be a major blow for the Steel a month out from the Premiership season start on March 4.
The 1.88m shooter had converted 44 of her 48 shots against the Swifts before her injury.
The 22-cap England international has spent the past two Premiership seasons with the Steel and has been a revelation, landing 1171 goals from 1268 attempts at 92%.
Fisher made her England test debut as a teenager, but was not selected for the Roses’ 2022 Commonwealth Games squad and was not involved in the recent Quad Series in South Africa.
She got engaged last year to Southland Sharks basketballer Brayden Inger and could become eligible for New Zealand after fulfilling residency requirements and international stand down rules.
Fisher told Stuff last September she was ‘‘a British girl and I’ve been a Rose through and through’’, but she wasn’t ruling anything out.