Cancer Society Daffodil Day: Coast radio hosts Toni, Jase and Sam take on ex-Silver Ferns in celebrity netball match

Coast’s Feel Good Breakfast hosts Toni Street, Jason Reeves and Sam Wallace took on a team of former Silver Ferns to raise funds for the Cancer Society.

The radio station hosted a celebrity netball match this afternoon ahead of Daffodil Day on Friday, as the radio station’s owner NZME teams up with ANZ to raise funds for the charity.

Luckily for the radio hosts, they have some professional athletes on their side, coached by Yvonne Willering. Former cricketer Martin Guptill joined the Coast Invitational side, with Olympic medallists Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Dame Lisa Carrington.

The line-up of ex-Silver Ferns included Anna Stanley, Bernice Mene, Anna Scarlett (now Harrison), Adine Wilson, Kiri Wills, Paula Griffin, Sulu Fitzpatrick and Linda Vagana. Photo / Sportfit Studios

Woodman-Wickliffe played netball for a decade before switching to rugby. “It’s amazing what your body remembers,” she said, but even for a Black Fern that doesn’t mean the netball game was easy. Watching a ball go over her head she thought, “12 years ago, I would have got that intercept”.

“The crew is really awesome,” she told Herald sports reporter Bonnie Jansen. “It’s cool playing alongside Lisa, Toni, David.”

How did it feel for Carrington to come back from Paris and head to the netball court? “I’m excited,” Carrington said. I know that I will come away with sore legs, but hopefully no sprained ankles.”

In peak form after the Olympics, was she fighting fit for the on-court action? “My mom did warn me. She said no bullet passes.”

They were joined by Kirk Penney, Dave Liti – who confessed to being “a little bit nervous” ahead of the game – and Kelly Coe, owner of fashion house Augustine, which dresses the Silver Ferns and Northern Stars netball teams.

Liti said it was a great way to spend an afternoon. “It’s for a good cause and it’s getting a whole bunch of us together and having a fun game,” he told the Herald. “I don’t know how this game’s gonna go.”

The match was at the North Harbour Netball Centre in Northcote and you can tune in to the livestream here.

Ahead of the match, the radio hosts spent some time brushing up on their sporting skills, and though Street has netball expertise, she wasn’t so sure about her teammates Wallace and Reeves.

“One’s a basketballer, one’s an expert on the elliptical,” she said ahead of the match, adding that while she’s played netball for years, “I’ve coached more than I’ve played recently... we’ll be relying heavily on Lisa Carrington, Portia Woodman and Martin Guptill, and hopefully I can just blend in.”

Wallace said he was planning to play like a basketballer. “I’m not prepared to bend to the netball way ... I’m pretty much going to be doing lay-ups.”

The line-up of ex-Silver Ferns included Anna Stanley, Bernice Mene, Anna Scarlett (now Harrison), Adine Wilson, Kiri Wills, Paula Griffin, Sulu Fitzpatrick and Linda Vagana.

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