Netball: Anna's back on board

Former captain Anna Rowberry models the Silver Ferns' new-look uniform. Picture / Dean Purcell

Anna Rowberry is big on the trial and error theory.

Patience, she admits, is not something she possesses in bucket loads.

Although it sounds like she is talking about her fleet-footed netball style, she is actually discussing her new hobby.

Surfing.

Rowberry and her fiance, former All Black Jeremy Stanley, moved to Mt Maunganui in December.

They rent a house one street back from the beach, and the pair bought each other surfboards for Christmas.

"We are pretty pathetic actually," she laughs.

"I don't have the patience to have lessons, I'd rather just get out there and learn by trial and error.

"It is quite funny when we go out together because as soon as one of us gets up, even for just half a second - we are giving it the old, 'Woo hoo, look at me'."

Although Mt Maunganui's laid-back lifestyle clearly agrees with Rowberry, the prospect of a Commonwealth Games gold medal means there is little chance she has become what she refers to as a "beach babe".

In fact you would be hard-pressed to find someone more determined to get their hands on that gold medal than the woman with the bullet pass whose career has had just as many ups as it has downs.

From the highs of captaining the Silver Ferns to a historic World Cup win in Jamaica in 2003 to the lows of being dropped for 18 months and, most recently, rupturing the ligaments in her knee - Rowberry has experienced it all.

Even now she is back in the team she is not assured of a starting spot, with captain Adine Wilson and Temepara George laying claim to the wing attack and centre positions.

"It is hard, I am not going to say it's not. When you have been the captain and been on the court, when you have won big games, it is hard to sit on the bench.

"But I think I am lucky to be back in the team. Some people don't get that."

Rowberry said there was an air of confidence about the team, who have beaten Australia six times in their last eight encounters.

"I must say for the first time I am heading into a major tournament feeling pretty confident. I have been around for a while and you often head into a world champs or Commonwealth Games thinking, 'I hope we can win and can we do it?'

"This time it is like, 'We can do it'. We have shown we can do it over the last two years and it is just about making sure we can do it on the day. I think there is an enormous amount of faith and trust within the whole team that we can do it."

Not that she is underestimating the Australians. With so many changes to their team, Rowberry knows it is a case of wait and see.

"The last time we played them we had a pretty good win and came off thinking, 'Oh my God, did we just play Australia?'

"It will be interesting to see what they are like but we are really focusing on what we can do.

"Our motto is about excellence, and how we can be better."

Not one for sitting still, Rowberry, who heads the Silver Ferns entertainment group, plans to have her teammates out and about supporting fellow New Zealanders when time permits.

"There are only four of us who have been to the Commonwealth Games before so we are going with a whole lot of girls who for the first time are going to have that 'wow' factor. It is cool to be able to share that with them."