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RNZ News
5 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Casey Kopua set to take on old foe in netball comeback
Casey Kopua in Giants colours. Photo: Brendon Thorne Former Silver Fern Casey Kopua is set to stay on in the Australian league for the rest of the season and she's looking forward to resuming an old rivalry. Netball fans were left stunned when the Giants announced that Kopua would join the injury-depleted team for last weekend's Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) game against the Melbourne Vixens in Sydney. Kopua retired from elite netball six years ago after helping the Silver Ferns win the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool. Giants coach Julie Fitzgerald, who coached Kopua for several years at the Magic in the former trans-Tasman competition, sent her an SOS. Once she realised Fitzgerald's text message was not a prank, Kopua couldn't resist the challenge and flew to Sydney in the middle of last week and played a full game on Sunday. The 39-year-old was brought in at the half-way point of the SSN season and is likely to be there for remainder of the competition. "The intent is for the rest of the season we're just going through the process, which I never thought would happen either but yeah that is the intent," Kopua said. This weekend, the Giants are playing the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who are spearheaded by Jamaican goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George. The 36-year-old Aiken-George and Kopua have history - going head to head on on several occasions at international level and during the old trans-Tasman competition. "That goes back in the days again as well so looking forward to that challenge and you just know that it's going to be a battle right from the start and you know you might not get every ball but you'll get one or two that'll make the difference so just have to keep grinding her both mentally and physically so by the end of the game she should be tired, because we both will be," Kopua laughed. Romelda Aiken and Casey Kopua went head to head a lot in the former ANZ Championship. Photo: Bruce Lim / Photosport Kopua was surprised when she was named to start at GK last weekend, given she only had one training session with the team. "To get back out on the court at that level I think I surprised myself and playing a full 60 minutes as well was a bit of a shock but I think for me the top two inches took over and you just got to carry on." The Giants, who are languishing at the bottom of SSN, suffered another loss on Sunday but pushed their opponents for three quarters before the Vixens prevailed 71-61. The former New Zealand captain said she kept fit by doing high-intensity workouts most days at the gym and plays netball once or twice a week in Matamata. Kopua said she hadn't previously considered coming out of retirement but playing in the world's toughest netball league was the one thing missing from her resume. "SSN is something I've never played in and I guess on my netball CV I've played and done and won everything that you can so when this came up it was more like a 'why not, why shouldn't I have a go at it'." Kopua, who played 112 Tests for New Zealand, had noticed the game was faster. "Everyone's got stronger, faster, fitter - the ball moves a lot faster, maybe I've just got slower. I can see things in my mind but the body is not as willing as what it was but I hope the more I'm on the court the better and the faster, even if it's just a little bit each time, it will add up." What has Fitzgerald asked of her? "Obviously, I'm not what I used to be but I'm still looking for those moments ...but rebounds is a big thing for me to get up there and get that extra ball for us but also just sharing my knowledge and experience with the younger ones but also they are teaching me I guess that Aussie style as well." The mother of three said her children were excited that their mum was playing top netball. "My oldest one Maia was as the last World Cup in 2019 and now they get to watch mum on TV ...be a part of it so they are very excited." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Super Netball Round-Up: Giants sign 40-year-old 'fossil' as injury replacement and is the Diamonds shooting circle in trouble?
Round eight is complete and we're over the halfway hump of the Super Netball season. The Sunshine Coast Lightning held on against the Melbourne Mavericks, 67-60, to move up a spot and claim third place. The undefeated NSW Swifts were challenged by defending premiers the Adelaide Thunderbirds in a see-sawing affair, 66-64. The lead changed six times and Romelda Aiken-George hit a 9,000-career goal milestone before the Swifts claimed their eighth straight victory. That run equals the club's best winning streak of the Super Netball era. The Giants put up an entertaining fight against the Melbourne Vixens after a big week of headlines. But a shock signing that attracted worldwide attention couldn't help them shift off the bottom of the ladder and they faded in the final quarter, 71-61. Lastly, the West Coast Fever handed the Queensland Firebirds a sixth straight defeat, 82-65. The 17-goal blowout took place in front of the Fever's second-biggest crowd in club history (11,427). If you missed it, don't worry — we'll get you up to speed with our Super Netball Round-Up. On Tuesday, the sad news broke that Jamaican defender Jodi Ann Ward had been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Ward had surgery and will now need to nail her rehab if she has any chance of representing her country at next year's Commonwealth Games. Then came the temporary replacement signing of Casey Kopua on Friday that sent the netball world into a frenzy. It would be her first elite netball game in six years, during which she has been keeping fit by teaching F45 classes and playing socially. Kopua was affectionately dubbed by New Zealand as one of 'the fossils' that won the Netball World Cup in 2019, alongside veterans Laura Langman and Maria Folau. The Silver Ferns had flown under the radar throughout that major tournament until the finals, where new head coach Noeline Taurua's mastermind tactics and fitness standards guided them to upsets against England and Australia. Kopua had previously retired from international netball in 2017 but came back to have one more crack at the trophy that had alluded her three times before. She was named as the MVP of the gold medal match before retiring once again — this time from all forms of netball. To say this Super Netball signing was left field would be a massive understatement and speaks to her relationship with Julie Fitzgerald, who previously coached Kopua at the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic before moving home to Australia to become the inaugural Giants coach. Kopua answered the SOS call from Fitzgerald on Tuesday, left her three kids behind to jump on a plane on Wednesday, and joined the Giants for her first training session on Thursday. By Sunday she was making her Super Netball debut, 18 days shy of her 40th birthday. Although it came out of the blew, Kopua was keen. "This certainly was not on my bingo card for 2025, I loved every minute," she said. "The first text from Julie was, 'Want to make a comeback?' and I was like, 'Huh, are you serious, how would that work?' "There were about six or seven texts from me in a row before she answered." Kopua was initially brought over as a one-off, but discussions are now underway to sign her on a longer contract as the Giants try to avoid finishing with a consecutive wooden spoon. There was so much hype generated for this appearance that the Giants recorded their second-best crowd attendance at Ken Rosewall Arena so far this season (3,076) behind the NSW derby. So how did she do on court? For starters, Kopua played a full match at goal keeper. That's impressive. She got a reasonable amount of hand to ball (three deflections, one rebound) and the presence of a legend was enough to put off the Vixens shooters — who only found out they would be facing Kopua after they'd finished their weekly prep. Is she going to be the difference between winning games and losing them? That's debatable. But the Giants have made it clear that the stalwart is more so here to bring her leadership qualities and play a supporting role to 21-year-old Erin O'Brien than anything else. In that goal, Kopua succeeded. Offering advice and structure to the Giants at the back in defence while O'Brien picked off a game-high seven gains. Now that we've entered the back half of the season, it's time to do a temperature check on how our Diamonds players are tracking as they vie for national contracts. England announced its 2025/26 list last week, but Australia has delayed theirs in order to allow players more time to prove themselves in a year where there is no major tournament. It seems they need it, because running our eyes over last year's national squad brings up concerns for the shooting circle. For one, there are less Australian shooters occupying starting positions in our domestic competition, giving the selectors a smaller pool of talent to pick from. Only the Lightning, Vixens and Giants operate moving circles that hinge on homegrown talent. The rest of the five teams centre their game plans around a tall holding import under the post. It's no coincidence that each of these targets are the league's top five leading goal scorers. Three of these five teams also have an import signed as their main goal attack. Secondly, there has been some dicey form on show. It's most obvious at the Vixens, where Diamonds duo Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin have struggled to connect in the same fashion they did to reach the 2024 Super Netball grand final. Garbin missed eight attempts at goal on Sunday and the majority of those were under the post (43/51). She was also pulled up five times for offensive contact and both players are in the top five for turnovers this season. To be fair to Austin, most of the ball she has lost has been whilst trying to feed Garbin. Sophie Dwyer is another that has a really high turnover count and her confidence has taken a hit the past two seasons as the Giants trail the competition. Georgie Horjus made her international debut last year as a genuine wing attack and goal attack swing, but has spent less time in goals this season for the Thunderbirds; instead focusing on the midcourt. Cara Koenen started the season slow and was under an injury cloud ahead of round six when she was spotted at the airport in a moon boot. She watched the entire game from the sideline, then in round seven came off the bench to play for 30 minutes. In round eight, Koenen took back her starting spot in the Lightning's line-up and managed 56 minutes. Maybe that injury cloud has now lifted? Then there's Donnell Wallam, who left to play in the New Zealand Premiership and is still eligible for selection. However, she hurt her wrist two weeks ago and missed round four. The Northern Mystics are yet to provide an update. Lastly, Diamonds invitee Lucy Austin has been demoted to the Super Netball Reserves. So, do the selectors stick with these players and hope to rebuild their confidence in camp? Or do they look to reward form and blood some new faces like 23-year-old impact player Reilley Batcheldor, a consistent force in the super shot period for the Lightning? A couple of weeks ago we mentioned the Australian set-up was hopeful Gretel Bueta might return to the game after having her third child. If she was to come back would that sort out the uncertainty for the Diamonds shooting circle? More will become clear in the final six rounds of the regular season.
