Kopua, 39, set for shock return to game
Former Silver Fern captain Casey Kopua is in line for a shock return to elite netball.
Kopua, 39, has been named as a replacement player for the Giants against the Melbourne Vixens for their Super Netball game tomorrow.
The defender, who retired after winning the Netball World Cup in 2019, replaces Giants' Jamaican defender Jodi-Ann Ward, who tore her ACL and is out for the rest of the season.
The Giants are also without regular defender Tilly McDonnell.
The New South Wales franchise announced Kopua's inclusion yesterday.
Kopua, who played 17 seasons for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, will link up with her former Magic team-mates Jo Harten, Jamie-Lee Price and coach Julie Fitzgerald, who are all with the Giants.
The goal defence, who was one of the inaugural inductees into the Netball New Zealand hall of fame last year, was one of the best defenders during her tenure, including being part of the Magic side that won the ANZ Championship in 2012.
Kopua retired from internationals in 2015 but returned to the Silver Ferns when Noeline Taurua took over the side in 2019 and led them to their first Netball World Cup in 17 years.
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Former Silver Ferns Casey Kopua and Katrina Rore were lured out of retirement in recent years. Photo: Photosport Analysis - When injury strikes professional netball teams regularly turn to retired players to take a bib in a comeback more common in netball than any other sport. Whether it is smaller squad sizes, a shorter season or trusting experience over the untested it seems some netball coaches still have their former charges on speed dial when they have a crisis. Former Silver Ferns defender Casey Kopua is latest to wind back the clock. Six years after she last played elite netball she was called up by the Giants in Australia's domestic competition on Sunday to help a team hit hard by injuries this season. Kopua is experienced, she played 112 tests for New Zealand, won two Commonwealth Games gold medals and was a world champion. But she had never played in the Australian competition before. 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Purvis had retired in 2020 after a career hampered by knee injuries and after more than a decade as a professional had signed off with 99 national league games to her name. Alongside her role working in the media, Purvis was part of a pool of replacement players available to ANZ Premiership sides during the season played during the pandemic. Filling in for Harrison Purvis played her 100th domestic game and managed to do it for the same franchise she had retired from. Storm Purvis (L) and Leana De Bruin (R) formed a defensive combination for the Stars in 2019. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2019 In that same season Harrison was also replaced by Leana de Bruin for a game. de Bruin had played already a game as a replacement player earlier in the season for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic marking her turn to the elite level in New Zealand for the first time since 2019 as a 44-year-old. de Bruin began her domestic career in New Zealand in 2001 and had played for the Silver Ferns between 2002 and 2016 after starting her international career in South Africa. Former Silver Ferns' captain and defender Katrina Rore spent a decade playing for the Central Pulse, after starting her career in the South Island, but had also played for the New South Wales Swifts in 2019 as an injury replacement. After retiring from international netball in late 2022, Rore had only been away from netball for a few months before her services were needed again. 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