Steel unveil fresh faces for new season

The Southern Steel will field a new-look shooting end in 2021 with Tiana Metuarau shifting south from the Central Pulse and English youngster George Fisher also signing on.

Silver Ferns midcourter Shannon Saunders and last season’s co-captain Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit will lead the side, alongside three other returning players, Kate Heffernan, Taneisha Fifita and Kiana Pelasio.

The Steel, who finished fifth in the sixteam competition this season, will have a new shooting combination.

Starting goal shoot Jennifer O’Connell and promising youngster Georgia Heffernan both suffered anterior

cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries this season and won’t be available for 2021. Trinidad and Tobago international Kalifa McCollin, who played goal shoot and goal attack for the Steel, won’t return for next season.

The Steel added goal attack Metuarau from two-time defending champions Pulse, while Pelasio, who was called into the Steel squad as an injury replacement this season, also earns a full contract.

Metuarau struggled for court-time at the Pulse with Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio in front of her at goal attack. She was used off the bench at wing attack this season, but with Silver Ferns Whitney Souness and Maddy Gordon capable of covering that position , the opportunity for game-time was limited.

Fisher, 21, has played 12 tests for England, making her debut aged 19. In 2018, the 1.88m tall shooter played against Jamaica and Uganda, as well as at the Fast5 World Series in Australia and most recently, the 2020 Nations Cup.

Joining Metuarau at the Steel from the Pulse is Renee Savai’inaea, who can cover wing defence and centre. The chance for more court-time would have been appealing for Savai’inaea, who also battled for regular minutes at the Pulse.