Ferns farewell: Last hurrah for Laura Langman?

When Laura Langman walks away from Stadium Southland tonight, behind her she will leave an impressive 12-year international career.

The nuggety midcourter will soon join the Sunshine Coast Lightning team in the new eightteam Australian domestic competition starting next year.

Under revised Netball Zealand policy Langman will be unavailable for Silver Ferns selection next year given she has pledged her allegiance with the Australian domestic competition.

The 30-year-old hasn’t ruled out a return in future, but for now, Langman’s time in the black dress is about to come to a halt.

She will bring the curtain down on a career which started in 2005 when New Zealand play Australia in the fourth and final Constellation Cup game in Invercargill.

Langman she said the prospect of tonight being her last test hasn’t added any extra emotion to the fixture.

‘‘It’s business as usual. There is still quite a bit of netball to go,’’ she said.

‘‘I don’t think it is a sad occasion at all. I’m quite excited really for the new adventure at the Sunshine Coast Lightning, and I can’t actually wait to get started.’’

Langman concedes she has put her Silver Ferns spot in jeopardy if she does potentially return for a shot at the 2018 Commonwealth Games or 2019 World Championships.

She said it was a factor when weighing up the decision to forego the Silver Ferns selection for the moment.

‘‘I think the big aim for us is to create that internal competition. In my decision making, obviously, that was part and parcel of it.

‘‘The more competition we have the greater we’ll be when we come up against the world champions.

‘‘I feel like I am going to add more strings to my bow [at the Sunshine Coast Lightning] and hopefully come back with a new dimension to my game.’’

Langman has been an integral part of the Silver Ferns for many years, both as a key player and a leader. However, she doesn’t feel her absence will leave too much of a hole when she departs.

‘‘I would imagine quite seamlessly,’’ when asked about the transition.

‘‘We’ve got a great midcourt. Our depth is a very strong at the moment so I basically think there will be no problems what so ever.’’

Langman’s last hurrah, for the time being at least, will hover over tonight’s game. But for the current Silver Ferns group the fixture is much bigger than any individual.

The new-look squad is looking for momentum in an attempt to close the gap on Australia on a regular basis.

They showed some promise in the second test win before slipping in a comfortable loss in the third test in Auckland on Saturday.

Langman said there had been a key focus this week in the buildup.

‘‘Urgency. We’ve had a really big emphasis on that in the past couple of days and ensuring that when we go to training we play at a standard that is of Silver Ferns quality.

‘‘We’ve made some real inroads to that, but for me, I think [Thursday night] is about urgency and just wanting it.