Netball: Defender is playing for keeps

Laura Geitz. Photo / Getty Images

Laura Geitz is a lithe, graceful, part-time model. She is also labelled a "bully" for her aggressive approach on the netball court.

Supporters see the 1.85m Firebirds defender as the best in the game; detractors highlight her huge volume of penalties. One point is unequivocal - Geitz is a player who can end New Zealand dreams of glory today.

While Romelda Aiken and Natalie Medhurst will drain the goals at one end, Geitz is a one-woman wrecking machine charged with stopping the Mystics' attacking thrust.

Geitz combines dynamic athleticism with unparalleled agility and has been the cornerstone of the Firebirds' historic season, leading the league in most of the defensive statistics that count. But along with the sweet there is a sour side; critics tend to focus on her relentless aggression.

The 23-year-old was the most penalised player in the competition across the 2009 and 2010 seasons, and going into today's game tops that chart again with 245 penalties - an average of almost 18 fouls per match.

In one match this year she was penalised 29 times, or once every two minutes. The sport has a physical element - increasing with every year - but is Geitz is taking things too far?

"If you are the most penalised player in the league, I would assume you are doing something wrong too much," says Mystics attacker Cathrine Latu.

"That's just her and in this game you can do as many [fouls] as you like and you still don't get sent off. It is very, very physical. It is a bit far - the lengths [the Queensland defenders] go to - but that is what we have to prepare ourselves for and we are kidding ourselves if we think it is not going to happen."

Fellow Mystic Anna Scarlett, no shrinking violet herself, is perhaps reluctant to criticise a fellow goal keep but understands the frustration.

"If nobody is telling her that it is an issue, then she is just going to keep doing it," says Scarlett. "She has a lot of penalties but also gets away with a lot. Because she is tight, you don't see the contact as much. No one will tell her to get her penalty counts down because she is getting so much ball."

As Shirley Bassey once sang, nobody does it better when it comes to disrupting opposition attacks than Miss Geitz. She made Irene van Dyk into a virtual passenger in their demolition of the Magic in the major semifinal, restricting the Silver Fern to just one goal in each of the second and third quarters, surely an unprecedented statistic in her prolific career.

Geitz has snaffled 52 intercepts this season (Casey Williams is next best with 33) and is credited with an ANZ Championship-high 90 deflections. She has also managed 38 defensive rebounds (second only to Williams' 40). Aside from the numbers though, it is her constant presence - Maria Tutaia labels her the "human backpack" - that is the key.

"She's a real competitor," agrees Mystics coach Debbie Fuller. "Sometimes goal keepers do physically harass goal shooters to wear them down. Really accurate shooters like Irene [van Dyk] and Cathrine [Latu] always get a hard time because if they can't mark them, they will just upset them."

For Geitz, it is a case of the end justifying the means and she makes no apologies for her approach.

"[Coach]Roselee [Jencke] has encouraged us - this year especially - to get out and have a crack at that ball and turn it over," she told the Herald on Sunday. "When you are contesting really hard you are going to be pulling penalties; I see my job as a defender to really go out and turn that ball over before it gets to a shot."

"I enjoy the contest; I enjoy that physical, body on body hard defensive and attacking work. I think it makes the game exciting and I'm glad the umpires let it go to a certain degree and pull it up when they have to. That is my game but I am aware that I can't be taken out of the game by being penalised all the time."

A product of the Australian Institute of Sport, Geitz made her international debut in 2008 and has since earned 19 caps under Norma Plummer. Going somewhat against her fearsome on-court persona, she is also one of the pin-up girls of the sport, having been involved in various modelling shoots.

When these two sides met in round seven, the Firebirds cantered to a 61-52 victory with the result never really in doubt. Since then, the Auckland side have lifted their standards significantly.

"The Mystics have improved dramatically and have an amazing line-up," says Geitz. "[Maria] Tutaia can shoot the ball from wherever she gets it in the circle while [Cathrine] Latu is such a great target under the posts.

Latu contributed just 19 goals in the previous clash and admits the Queenslander won the physical battle.

"I remember that game well - a lot of the ball I got, I got whacked afterwards so the penalties I put down for Maria [Tutaia] to take for me. I've addressed that since and am ready for it. Anyway, as holding shooters, the only way to beat us is to try and hurt us. Against the Magic [last week] I was taking all the physical stuff which is fine - Maria [Tutaia] was shooting her lights out."