Silver Ferns skipper Katrina Grant to return to Pulse in 2018 ANZ Premiership

Star defender Katrina Grant will return to the Central Pulse in 2018. Photo/PHOTOSPORT.

Central Pulse captain Katrina Grant will return for a ninth consecutive campaign for the Wellington-based team in 2018.

The influential defender and popular captain is the first player announcement for the Pulse's 2018 ANZ Premiership roster.

The Pulse this year had their most successful season to date, making the play-offs for the first time in their 10-year history.

"I've been with the Pulse a long time and we made the finals this year which was significant," said Grant.

"I am obviously getting that little bit older and the Pulse have been really good to me over the years I've been with them. I love Wellington, I love the people and I really wanted to be loyal to them."

Voted the Pulse's Most Valuable Player for 2017, the agile defender, who is also the Silver Ferns captain, is already looking forward to building on the momentum achieved this year.

"Our young ones were outstanding and did so much for us this year," she said. "They've grown immensely and watching how far they can go with another year under their belts would be pretty special."

Already well into her planning for next year, the retention of Grant was key for coach Yvette McCausland-Durie.

"It's critical because she's obviously a quality player and that makes a massive difference in terms of performance," the coach said.

"On top of that, what I think has been really great to see in her this year is lots of growth. Growth in her leadership, growth in her performance and through that we saw greater consistency. She's still got so much to offer in terms of that professionalism around her preparation to the game and her ability to know what's required in tough matches is really huge for us.

"She leads by example. She's not a person of a huge number of words, she prefers to just be a doer. She puts the highest standards of expectation on herself. She engages well with the rest of the group but the priority for her is let's do what we can to make sure performance is right."