‘It fills your cup': Netballer Casey Kopua on returning to the court in Game On
The last thing Casey Kopua expected after she finished filming a television show about retired netballers was a return to the competitive netball court. But shortly after Three's new sports docu-series Game On wrapped, Kopua answered an emergency SOS to join the Giants in Australia's Super Netball League, and found herself back in the defenders circle six years after her last elite-level game. 'That was definitely not the plan,' the 39-year-old laughs down the phone from Sydney, clearly relishing the unexpected opportunity to play high performance sport once again.
Kopua played 112 tests for the Silver Ferns, 186 games for Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and was the most-capped captain in New Zealand netball history. She's one of only seven Silver Fern centurions, and is also a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. Kopua retired from netball after leading the Silver Ferns to World Cup victory in 2019, but popped up on our screens last year in Celebrity Treasure Island. 'I had lots of fun, even though it was short lived,' Kopua remembers of her castaway experience. 'I was probably just a bit too competitive.'
Kopua brings her competitive nature back to the small screen for Game On, a series that follows New Zealand netball legends like Irene Van Dyk, Adine Wilson and Temepara Bailey as they come out of retirement to play a high-stakes netball tournament. Not only will the former Silver Ferns compete against teams of other ex-internationals, but they'll mentor a group of promising young players, helping to pass the netball torch on to the next generation.
It's a warm and inspiring series, and Kopua says she treasured every moment of playing alongside her former teammates. 'They're like sisters. To get the crew back together like that was very cool, it was like we'd never left.' Kopua's passion for the sport hasn't lessened over the years, and she believes Game On will reveal a new side to the ex-Ferns, some of whom haven't touched a netball for 14 years. 'We've all shown a bit of vulnerability to put ourselves back out into that public eye to be scrutinised,' she says.
We sat down with Kopua to find out about her life in television, including her secret TV guilty pleasure, an enduring love of Shrek, and why she really wants the midday news to come back.
My earliest TV memory is… Watching The Jetsons with my older brother and sister. I watched those Saturday morning cartoons, because as kids, we were out on the farm helping mum and dad, before we went and did all our sport.
The TV shows I used to love growing up were… What Now and Sticky TV, but my favourite was Tom and Jerry. I used to also watch WWF wrestling with my brother. Tom and Jerry was in the morning and wrestling was at night.
The TV ad I can't stop thinking about is… The Milo one where they used to drink Milo before they played netball.
My TV guilty pleasure is… There's two things that I watch and everyone thinks they're dumb, and that's Home and Away and Shortland Street. I can sit there and don't have to think about things for a while. My husband and I went to Palm Beach where they film Home and Away, which was pretty cool. I was a bit of a fangirl.
The TV show I'd love to be involved with is… It would have been Celebrity Treasure Island, but that is now ticked off. I was always intrigued by Dancing with the Stars NZ, but after talking to Temepara [Bailey, who won the 2008 season] about it, I would never do that. My knees wouldn't be able to cope. But the amount of practice and how they can transform and learn and go through that process is something that's always intrigued me.
My favourite moment from Game On was… playing competitively again with my old teammates. A lot of them have still got it, and they could still play these days if they wanted to. It fills up your cup, and makes you feel happy doing that again.
The biggest surprise from Celebrity Treasure Island was… For what we do in a day, you see an hour of it on TV. Some of the contestants who worked in TV obviously knew how things go, but those of us that didn't work in TV had no idea. I put myself outside my comfort zone to go on that. Usually when you go away for netball, you can FaceTime your kids or your husband, but there, you can't do anything. There's no contact whatsoever. It was so nice not to have your phone or computer, and very peaceful, but it was really hard not to be able to talk to the kids.
My most watched on-screen things are… I don't know why, but Shrek and Bridesmaids. Shrek is one of my favorites, my sister and I can just about say all the words from the whole movie. Bridesmaids, I think it's just a good laugh. I'm in that stage of my life with my friends, we just have a good laugh and enjoy each other's company.
My controversial TV opinion is… I miss the news in the daytime. In the morning, I'm extremely busy with the kids getting ready for school and me going to work, and then at nighttime, we're either at dance or swimming or rugby training or netball training, so you miss it. When the kids are at school, it's your time when you can actually hear your own thoughts. I was gutted when the lunchtime news went away.
The TV show that I'll never watch, no matter how many people tell me to is… Game of Thrones. I've never seen Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter either, but it just doesn't interest me.
The last thing I watched on television was… The NRL. We watch a lot of rugby league in our house, and NRL 360 is the show that keeps you updated every night.
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