Silver Ferns icon served her team well

Every now and again it has to happen.
A sporting icon is dropped from a side as selectors look to bring in fresh blood with an eye to the future.
Lesley Rumball would probably argue that sporting icon hardly fits her persona.
The popular former Silver Fern netball captain who would be better known to many under the surname Nicol has never been one to court such accolades
Modest almost to a fault she has always brushed aside praise by quickly deflecting it onto the efforts of her team-mates.
But Rumball's contribution to one of this country's most successful sporting teams in recent times has been so immense that icon is very much an apt description.
She has, as another former captain Anna Rowberry said yesterday, been a fantastic ambassador for the sport and the Silver Ferns won't seem quite the same now that she is on the outer.
Without wanting to paint myself as some sort of netball expert-which I am surely not- it always seemed to me that Rumball was one of those players who made a habit of doing the right thing at the right time.
Seldom flashy, seldom spectacular but seldom failing to do the job expected of her.
And tough, very tough. That flashing smile which endeared her to the fans couldn't hide her competitive spirit.
Think back to some of the very physical games against the Aussies the Silver Ferns have had over the past decade or so and it's not hard to recall Rumball pushing and shoving with the best of them. Asking for no quarter and giving none either. Not for her either the looking for excuses in defeat.
She had her ups and downs in her reign as skipper of the national side and whenever
Losses were recorded she was always straight to the point.
If her teams played badly she said so, and we appreciated her honesty in an age where skippers all too often "bag" outside influences for their defeats.
It was typical of Rumball that when her dumping from the Silver Ferns became known to her there was no sign of malice in her comments.
Sure she was disappointed but rather than dwell on that fact she talked about not retiring and working hard to persuade the national selectors to again call on her services.
Rumball , of course, is intelligent enough to know that the chances of a return to the Silver Ferns would be an even bigger surprise than her axing.
Selectors never like turning back the clock and with the emphasis clearly on bringing our top young talent through to the international scene she has very probably made her last appearance for her country.
That being the case there is no better time than now to salute Lesley Rumball as a sportswoman extraordinaire.