‘‘. . . now I’ve got Anna Harrison, which is crazy as well.’’ Elle Temu revels in her Auckland homecoming
When Elle Temu decided to return home to Auckland and signed with the Stars for this year’s netball premiership, she had no idea she was about to become team-mates with a former defensive great.
‘‘I had a chat to Maia Wilson when I was signing and she was just saying, there’s an awesome person coming in,’’ Temu said.
‘‘I had signed, because I obviously wanted to come home ... and then I found out and I was just like, whoa, this is awesome.’’
What was awesome was that former Silver Fern Anna Harrison was coming out of retirement to give the Stars a defensive anchor and Temu someone with plenty of experience to learn from.
She has started alongside Harrison in all six of the Stars matches so far, and the defensive duo have played a big part in lifting their team to the top of the ladder.
Temu’s return home came after three seasons in Wellington, where she won two second-tier National Netball League titles with Central Manawa, and trained and played alongside four Silver Ferns defenders – Karin Burger, Sulu Fitzpatrick, Kelly
Jury, and Katrina Rore – which was massive for her development.
‘‘I’ve played with some of the best defenders in New Zealand, and I’m really loving it and learning as much as I can.’’
The downside of having such stellar defensive team-mates at the Pulse was that Temu barely got on court, playing just 57 minutes in 2019 and 131 in 2020, and it was in pursuit of more game time that she decided to return home.
It took her just three matches to blow by her minutes total from last season, and she said it had been a ‘‘big change’’ going from getting scraps here and there to sometimes having to go the distance.
Temu has typically started at goal keep, though she has also worn the goal defence bib, trading places with Harrison, and there have also been plenty of opportunities for the team’s third defender, Oceane Maihi, to play alongside both of them.
Her standout performance so far came against the Steel in round four, where she started at goal defence, played a big part in shutting down opposing shooters Tiana Metuarau and George Fisher, and came away with the most valuable player award.
The 22-year-old said her game had grown rapidly now that she was getting consistent playing time, and she was grateful for all the bits and pieces she had picked up from her more experienced team-mates – and coaches – along the way.
Although she might not have played much for the Pulse during her time in Wellington, Temu had a front-row seat as they won the ANZ Premiership in 2019 and 2020, and has been left with a good idea of what it takes to be the best.
‘‘I do think it was awesome to be around that culture, and now I know how to train to get to that point,’’ she said.
‘‘So I guess it’s just ensuring that I do that wherever I go now, that I make sure I keep the intensity up and do the little things right, which obviously help a team to end up on top.’’
She seems to have found another strong culture at the Stars, who won five in a row to start the season before suffering a shock loss to the Pulse last Sunday.
‘‘The Stars really value community and think we’ve created such an awesome space where we’re all included, and we all have the same values around that,’’ Temu said.
‘‘It’s just such a nice place to be in – we’re family orientated, and we just love helping out the community, and helping out each other, and I think that really shows, that we trust each other off court, so we can put in the hard yards for each other on court.’’
Heading into round seven, there is plenty of interest in how the Stars will respond to their first defeat, and they won’t have it easy, even though they’re back at their Pulman Arena home, as they’re up against the Mainland Tactix, who have won three in a row themselves.
‘‘We’re definitely very excited to get back into it,’’ Temu said.
‘‘We know that we didn’t play our best game on Sunday, so we’re ready to go out and just get back to what we are used to.
‘‘Every opponent you come up against, you just never know what’s going to be the outcome, and I think that’s exciting, that the comp is so close at the moment.’’