Netball on both sides of the Tasman can hardly contain its excitement over Silver Ferns goalshooting colossus Grace Nweke.
Kiwis’ admiration of the towering attacker is nothing new, as we’ve watched her develop from a promising teen into the game’s most dominant force under goal.
That appreciation has taken on new focus, given her unstoppable performances against world champions Australia, as the Silver Ferns grab the Constellation Cup for just the third time — and the first time on foreign soil — with three overwhelming wins.
Now, as Nweke prepares to join NSW Swifts in the Super Netball League, the Aussies are also warming to her skills, albeit begrudgingly.
Over the Constellation Cup series so far, Nweke has shot a combined 144/154 attempts, converting at 93.5%, and simply overshadowed the best the Diamonds can put against her.
Nweke’s sheer size (1.93m) has made her a big target for teammates, who have perfected the art of tossing long lob passes in her general direction and watching her track them down with her long reach.
The shooting star will play across the Tasman next year. (Source: 1News)
If the now-former Northern Mystics star has finally reached the pinnacle of her powers, she will leave a giant-sized hole in the Ferns squad, when she becomes unavailable for selection next year.
Now forced to coach around that absence, coach Dame Noeline Taurua risks losing all the momentum built during this historic series.
“I’ve been open, I think it’s great for her,” insisted Taurua. “She wants to go there because she wants to be a better netballer, but I’ve also been very open about where that leaves our pathways as well and the balancing act that needs to happen.
“She’ll go off, and we’ll see what happens for her to come back and contest her place again, but we know, as we did at the Netball World Cup, how big she is for us. She got injured in the second round and we were still able to be in the top four, but she makes a difference.
“We’ll just take one Constellation Cup game at a time and see what the future holds.”
To some extent, the conundrum facing Taurua is similar, yet opposite to new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, who would love to call on recent internationals like first-five Richie Mo’unga and flanker Shannon Frizell, both now playing their trade in Japan, but can’t.
Others — Sam Cane and Ardie Savea are the most obvious recent examples — have worked around the system by taking ‘sabbaticals’ that allow them to reclaim their All Blacks spots immediately.
In both rugby and netball, national administrators are trying to safeguard the integrity of their premier competitions — Super Rugby Pacific and ANZ Premiership — but at a cost to their respective national teams.
While Robertson had no influence on his players’ departures, motivated strictly by money, Dame Noeline has actively encouraged her charges to seek improvement offshore. Her own development as a coach was assisted greatly by back-to-back Super Netball crowns with Sunshine Coast Lightning and next season, she will assist Swifts coach Briony Akle, who has served on the Ferns staff during the trans-Tasman series.
“That was one of the things we discussed,” said Dame Noeline, after her re-appointment in April. “From a board perspective, those are the decisions they have to make, but I also believe we need a lot of international exposure.
“We need four world class athletes, and the only way we can do it with the current experience or inexperience that we have is by either getting more games against clubs, or finding another way or opportunity for them to compete in other competitions.
“That’s definitely an area I talked to them about. The good thing is they’re thinking about that themselves, so we’re both on the same page.”
With the trans-Tasman silverware now safely secured, the Ferns have a rare opportunity to prepare for life without their star shooter in the remaining Test at Melbourne.
Amelia Walmsley earned her international debut during Nweke’s injury recovery in 2023, but hasn’t budged off the pine so far against England or Australia this year, while veteran Maia Wilson has spelled Nweke or goal attack Amerliaranne Ekenasio when needed.
“Opportunities do exist or present for us now, which is next level for us,” said Dame Noeline. “It’s pretty cool.
“We have to be very smart. Our ‘bomb squad’ have been training amazing and champing at the bit to get on.
“It’s an opportunity to look at that depth, but also 4-0 is a beautiful potential thing that we’ve never been able to do before, so getting that balance right is critical to us moving forward and something that I have to talk with the leadership group about what we do in that respect.”