Netball: NZ games reignite Aussie's test passion

Midcourter Natasha Chokljat is not ruling out a return to test netball. Photo / Alan Gibson

If midcourt star Natasha Chokljat opts to make herself available for the Australian team next year, coach Norma Plummer could well have Netball New Zealand to thank for the change of heart.

Not that she needs a helping hand to grow player depth across the Tasman.

Chokljat, captain of the world seven team for this week's three-test series against the Silver Ferns, has made herself unavailable for Australia for the past two seasons, after being dumped from the team before the 2007 World Championships in Auckland.

But the unique opportunity to play for the world selection team, at the invitation of Netball NZ, has reignited her enthusiasm for test netball.

The 30-year-old says thoughts of playing for Australia again have definitely crossed her mind during this week after leading her side to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

"It's been fantastic, I've really, really enjoyed it. I have to say I'm getting itchy feet at the moment."

While a return to the Australian Diamonds side this season is not an option, with Plummer having already selected her squad, Chokljat has not ruled out making herself available again in the future.

But she says a lot will depend on what path her career takes off the court.

Since the introduction of the transtasman league and the move to semi-professionalism, Chokljat, who works for the AFL in the finance department, has struggled to juggle her fulltime job with her netball commitments.

"It's just not something I can manage at the moment with working fulltime. This year in the ANZ Champs I found all the travel and training every day really took its toll."

While Chokljat is playing it relatively coy over her chances of an international comeback, her comments suggest she has come a long way since the dark times a few years back.

For her part, Plummer has maintained that the door is always open for Chokljat if she wishes to one day play for Australia again.

And for very good reason.

Ironically, it has been since turning her back on the Australian team that Chokljat has arguably played the best netball of her career.

The super-fit Aussie was one of the stand-out midcourters in the inaugural season of the ANZ Championship, before a knee injury late in the season put her off her stride.

This year Chokljat lifted several notches again and was a key figure in the Melbourne Vixens' championship-winning season.

But the veteran of 31 tests, who is often described as one of the nicest women in the sport, remains typically modest about her form.

It is up to world seven coach Julie Fitzgerald then to say the blindingly obvious.

"I have no doubt in the world that Natasha could easily slot back into that Australian line."

And don't the Silver Ferns know it.