Getting the call-up earlier this week was a shock for Walmsley, who shot with 86 percent accuracy this season.
“I was very overwhelmed, I was super-surprised. It wasn’t something I’d expected to come so soon,” she says.
“It was a whirlwind of emotions, it was very surreal. It still doesn’t quite feel real yet, but it’s starting to.”
With Grace Nweke ruled out of the Taini Jamison series against England, still recovering from the patella tendon injury she suffered at last month’s Netball World Cup, Walmsley has the chance to make her mark as a tall goal shoot in the Silver Ferns circle.
Despite being a similar height (Walmsley is 1.92m, just a centimetre shorter than Nweke) and having similar shooting volume, Walmsley has been assured by coach Dame Noeline Taurua she’s not just a replacement for Nweke.
“We definitely have our different strengths. I do think having the height in there is something we’re quite similar in, which [the Ferns] will use to their advantage,” Walmsley says on her role in the Ferns. She’s yet to have a full training camp with the coaches.
“Noels [Taurua] has spoken to me about the differences between us, so they will use us in a similar sense of our heights. But we play somewhat different styles, so that will be interesting.”
When the 2023 Pulse team was announced, import shooter Joyce Mvula was expected to take hold of the goal shoot bib, with international World Cup experience for Malawi alongside six seasons playing in the UK Superleague.
However, once pre-season started, Walmsley proved herself to be the number one choice at goal shoot, combining well with goal attack Tiana Metuarau and improving as the season went on.
“At the start of the season, we spoke about using the season to build my minutes and gain a little bit more experience under my belt,” she explains. “But then I started to establish myself more as a starting shooter, which was really exciting for me.”
It was an unexpected step-up for Walmsley, but one she learnt a lot from - some of which came from being pushed in the deep end. She made the New Zealand Secondary Schools team in 2021, in her last year at Howick College, but the promotion to the domestic scene was a new challenge.
Having to deal with the physicality of the ANZ Premiership defenders was tough both physically and mentally for Walmsley.
“I wasn’t as experienced with the physical side of the game and playing against defenders in the ANZ Premiership…so just gaining experience in that environment was a physical challenge,” she says.
“And then the second part of it was the mental side, where I had big shoes to fill with Aliyah [Dunn] leaving. She was a very trusty shooter.
“So trying to manage the pressure from the audience, the coaches, all the external pressures, but also the pressure I placed on myself to try and put my best foot forward - with that comes a lot of pressure, so that was definitely something I had to manage.”
But the teenager stood up to the challenge, helping the Pulse finish second on the minor premiership ladder with 10 wins - losing the elimination final and missing out on the grand final by just one goal. Walmsley shot 41/45 in that loss to the Stars.
“At first, I found it very easy to be knocked around,” says Walmsley. “But through the season, my physical strength improved which meant my mental strength improved because I had a bit more confidence in myself. And I learnt what the pressures were like and gained strategies to deal with them.”
Walmsley will become Silver Fern #184 if she takes the court against the England Roses in the Taini Jamison series, then faces another tough challenge in the form of the new world champion Australian Diamonds in the Constellation Cup - a series Nweke is hoping to be fit for.
The other shooters named in the Silver Ferns are Maia Wilson, Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Metuarau - the latter the only one Walmsley has a playing connection with.
“I’m really excited to potentially get on court with Tiana, just because we have that combo through Pulse. So that will be fun to put on court in an international environment,” Walmsley says.
“But I also would love the opportunity to work with Ameliaranne, because she’s someone who I’ve idolised since I was younger. That would be really, really cool.”
Walmsley’s not expecting too much from the English series, aware that Ekenasio (65 caps) and Wilson (46 caps) are the experienced heads in the shooting circle. But it’s still a chance for her to prove herself in the black dress.
“My goal is just to soak it all in and be really present in the moment, and just learn as much as possible,” Walmsley says.
Her support system have been amazing for her, she says. Her family in Auckland supported her move to Wellington to play for the Pulse as just a 17-year-old - but making sure she lived with an adult, Pulse manager Jill Clapcott, for her first season in the capital.
At the end of the ANZ Premiership season, Walmsley returned home to Auckland. She’s studying digital marketing online through Massey University, alternating between full-time and part-time study depending on her netball schedule.
She’s hoping to have a big group of family and friends in the crowd for the series to watch her make her Silver Ferns debut, including her dad, former Black Caps bowler Kerry Walmsley.
“I think my nana is going to try to be there. She never came to any of my Pulse games, because it’s just too much for her. But she said this moment is a bit too special, so she’ll come to Hamilton hopefully,” Walmsley says.
“I’d love for my boyfriend to be there, but he’ll be overseas, which is okay.” Her boyfriend, Rafe Couillault, is a Kiwi high jumper.
Regardless of who she has in the crowd, Walmsley says it will be a proud moment.
“My reaction, I think, will be quite emotional,” she admits. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was very little, but it’s come a lot sooner than I thought.”
*The Taini Jamison series against the England Roses starts in Christchurch on September 24, before moving to Porirua on the 27th, and wrapping up in Hamilton on the 30th. The four-test Constellation Cup starts in Melbourne on October 12.
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.
