KEY POINTS:
Practising her dance routine in an airport departure lounge is just one of the lengths Temepara George is prepared to go to this weekend to fulfil her netball and Dancing with the Stars commitments.
George will experience her first clash of the codes this weekend as she looks to combine a pre-season netball tournament in Sydney with her preparation for the third show.
The star midcourter, who will play for the Northern Mystics in the upcoming ANZ Championship season, plans to fit her rigorous training for the show around this weekend's matches. Her dance partner Stefano Olivieri will join her in Sydney, where they will train up to five hours a day.
With the Mystics playing all the nine other teams in the transtasman league during the three-day tournament, George admits it will be a full-on weekend. "We'll be training when I'm not netballing," she said.
"I'm kind of working around when I've got free time, which isn't much, but we've managed to squeeze four or five hours each day and then time at the airport when we're waiting around doing nothing."
As playing top-level netball and Dancing with the Stars are both huge commitments, has George bitten off more than she can chew? The former Silver Fern insists not.
"I chose to do both so I've just got to fit it in. It's been OK so far and I haven't really felt like it's too much at the moment."
George and Olivieri were the golden couple this week, impressing the judges with their quick-step to net the highest score of 31 points. The mother of two is keen to post another top score on Tuesday when they will dance the jive.
Though her build-up is not ideal, George believes exhaustion won't be a problem. "As long as I prepare well and recover well I should be fine.
"I've been doing everything right. I've been eating right, hydrating, making sure I get plenty of rest and wearing my skins when I can wear them."
But Mystics coach Yvonne Willering admits to having mixed feelings over how well she would like her star charge to do in the competition.
She jokes she won't be voting for George. But Willering is quick to add that she takes great pride in seeing George performing so well on the dance floor.
"She's put in a huge effort so obviously we would love her to be there at the end, but you've got to understand from a coaching perspective that we'd like her back as soon as possible."
