Grit, fire and a lot of talent
Margaret Forsyth, who died yesterday aged 59, was a teenaged netball sensation who became a legendary Silver Fern. ‘‘She had a grit and a fire about her that I haven’t seen since for a player of her calibre,’’ said former New Zealand team-mate and friend Rhonda Wilcox.
Forsyth won two world titles and became known throughout New Zealand and the netball world for her shooting circle combination with Margharet Matenga.
‘The Two Margs’ – with Forsyth at goal attack and Matenga at goal shoot – became the best shooting circle combination in world netball.
The talented all-round Waikato athlete made her Silver Ferns debut in 1979, while a 17-year-old seventh former at Hillcrest High School. She was part of the New Zealand side which finished in a three-way tie for top honours at the World Cup that year with hosts Trinidad and Tobago and Australia.
Eight years later, she became one of just three Silver Ferns to win two world titles as part of the all-conquering 1987 team that outclassed its rivals to secure the World Cup title in Scotland.
Forsyth also played in the 1983 World Cup when New Zealand lost what was effectively a final against Australia 47-42.
‘‘I started playing against her at 17 at the North Island secondary school nationals,’’ said Wilcox, who later played at goal shoot with Forsyth in New Zealand teams in the 1980s.
‘‘She was dynamite, she just outshone everybody. She excelled while the rest of us were still learning our trade. She just understood the game, knew the positions to be in.’’
A degenerative knee condition forced Forsyth’s retirement aged 27 after 64 appearances for the national side. She was later an assistant and head coach with Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and an assistant coach of the Fast5 Ferns in 2017 and the NZ A team in 2016.
‘‘She had a knack as a coach of not only taking players to a higher level but also of teaching them positional skills – a lot of modernday stuff doesn’t happen like that – how to hold a position, where to place yourself, where to place the ball,’’ Wilcox said.
‘‘She read the game and understood it – with the mental toughness that you don’t see often.
‘‘She wasn’t a morning person – I had to sneak out of the room if I was rooming with her. But she was very elegant in everything she did – she was an amazing lady.’’
Forsyth was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (NZOM) for services to netball and the community in the 2020 New Year’s Honours.
Forsyth, who served in the police force and worked as a primary school and physical education teacher, was in her third term as a Hamilton City councillor when she died shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.