England star backs Folau
England netball star Geva Mentor has thrown her support behind Silver Fern Maria Folau and hopes there’ll be no backlash towards her at the World Cup.
Folau and the Ferns left for England last night with their opening game against African nation Malawi next Friday in Liverpool – where the tournament is being contested at M&S Bank Arena.
Maria has been in the headlines after supporting her underfire rugby husband Israel Folau’s online fundraising page to help his legal action against Rugby Australia (RA). Folau had his contract terminated by RA in May after a series of anti-gay social media posts.
The off-court drama didn’t affect Maria’s play in last week’s pre-World Cup tournament with the 138-test veteran shining for the Ferns, including a standout 40/43 showing in the final on Saturday, when they lost 66-54 to the New Zealand men’s team.
Defender Mentor, a stalwart of the England Roses side, who has marked up against Folau many times over the years, defended the Silver Ferns’ shooting supremo.
‘‘Maria’s in a hard place,’’ Mentor told the BBC. ‘‘You stay quiet, you’re not supporting your husband. You speak up, you support your husband, but you get backlash.’’
There were gay elite netballers in Australia and England, and Mentor said Folau needed to realise she was a role model for young netballers around the world.
‘‘Everyone is entitled to their own view, but they [the Folaus] have to understand that they are in an influential position and they are so public they have to keep tabs on it.
‘‘There is no room for homophobia in netball and we have players that are [gay] in England and Australia, and it is putting them in uncomfortable positions.’’
England and the Silver Ferns could potentially square off in the semifinal stage of the World Cup, which runs from July 12-21.
Folau is widely tipped to finish up with the Ferns after the World Cup, ending her long involvement with the side, which dates back to 2005. She is the third most capped Fern in history with only skipper Laura Langman (151 tests) and the retired Irene van Dyk (145) having played more games.
Mentor’s English side, who upset Australia in the Commonwealth Games to capture the gold medal, are targeting their first World Cup trophy.
They have never previously made a final at the World Cup, but did finish second in 1975, when the tournament was a round-robin format.
England were determined to perform strongly on home soil and end their World Cup title drought. They were under no illusions about how tough it would be.
‘‘It’s an opportunity to rewrite history and we are ready for redemption [England lost in the semifinal stage in the past two World Cups],’’ she said. ‘‘It is all about looking forward rather than looking back, and as a team our minds have shifted to what we want to do and what we are capable of.
‘‘The dream would be to play Australia in the final, but I’m happy to play anyone, as long as we’re there.’’