Central Pulse co-captain Tiana Metuarau has revealed the struggles she faced after being surprisingly dropped from the Silver Ferns before last year’s Commonwealth Games.
But a satisfying 2023 ANZ Premiership campaign with the Pulse has given the charismatic and competitive shooter the vigour to fight for her spot back intime for this year’s World Cup in South Africa.
“It was really hard and a little bit confusing, and I went through a couple of months of denial and was really unsure of myself,” the 22-year-old said as she reflected on missing the trip to Birmingham last July.
Metuarau was named as a reserve, while Maia Wilson, Grace Nweke, Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Bailey Mes formed the shooting contingent for the bronze medallists.
The surprise selection call came after the Wellingtonian had a standout ANZ Premiership season with the title-winning Pulse, and featured prominently in the Silver Ferns’ two series leading up to the Games.
For Meturarau, it was a sudden roadblock to her fast rise up the country’s professional netball ranks, which began in 2017 when first appearing for the Pulse as a replacement player aged just 16.
Her maiden Silver Ferns call-up came in 2021 after Metuarau’s one-off domestic season for the Southern Steel that year, where she excelled as the franchise’s starting goal attack.
In her memorable debut test against England, Metuarau received the MVP accolade after being handed a start and shooting at 90 per cent accuracy.
But, less than a year later, the daughter of former Silver Ferns captain and coach Wai Taumaunu found herself in major danger of losing her passion for the sport after missing the Birmingham trip.
“I was really distant from netball last year in roughly July and August,” Metuarau said.
After taking some time out in the Cook Islands, where her father’s family is from, Metuarau returned for the FAST5 series in October to regain focus ahead of this year’s ANZ Premiership.
“I think it’s been really awesome for me to come back into the Pulse environment this year and just be around some really good people to help me regain that love for the game.
“I would love to get into the World Cup squad. I will keep fighting, and I’m not one to give up very easily which is probably why I was really frustrated last year.”
Tiana Metuarau. Photo / Photosport
Metuarau’s vast netball experience aged just 22 was highlighted this season when she became the youngest player in the history of the ANZ Premiership to amass 100 matches.
“I’ve come back better, there are multiple things that have improved, so that’s all I can ask for really and I know that I’m in control of that and the performances I put out on court are within my control.”
Metuarau’s personal improvements have had to be made while also building a new shooting combination at the Pulse with teenage goal shoot Amelia Walmsley, following the departure of Aliyah Dunn after their 2022 title.
“Aliyah and I had played three of four seasons together, we did under 21s together, so we knew each other really well,” she said.
“Amelia didn’t play much last season so for her to come up and get better and better every week, I commend her for that.”
Walmsley’s taken on a high level of the duo’s shooting workload, putting up 578 attempts at goal so far this season at 86.3 per cent, while Metuarau’s attempted 197 shots at 87.8 per cent accuracy.
Metuarau believes adapting to a new shooting partner both on and off the court has aided her own maturity as a leader — something she hopes stands out to the national selectors.
“For me, I’m very up front, very honest, a little bit sassy at times so I’ve just been trying to work on being really mindful of the language and things that I say to people and how things should be said.
“That’s probably the thing I’ve been trying to focus on in terms of my leadership. There are things I can do better off court as well which have already improved since last year.”
With Nweke, Wilson, Mes and Selby-Rickit all boasting consistent performances in the ANZ Premiership, a tough selection call looms for Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua, who names her World Cup squad of 12 soon after the domestic season concludes in early June.
The selection race has been made tighter by the return of skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio, who narrowly missed Commonwealth Games selection after having her second child, but was back to lead New Zealand in January’s Quad Series in South Africa.
Central Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie is full of praise for Metuarau’s maturity and presence in the squad.
“She’s a special player, she’s a really different goal attack — a power athlete,” McCausland-Durie said ahead of the Pulse’s top-of-table round 11 match against the Mystics on Sunday.
“[Tiana’s] got the ability to really hold her own space on court, she’s smart with ball in hand, her shooting capacity, that accuracy has come up along with the increase in volume.”
McCausland-Durie didn’t offer her view on the national selection race, but acknowledged Metuarau, at age 22, has time on her side to become a Silver Ferns mainstay.
“We’re trying to get her to do a bit more defence work but I think she’s a really smart player and she’ll be around this game for a long time.”
For Metuarau, leading the Pulse to back-to-back ANZ Premiership titles is her clear immediate focus, but her underlying ambition to return to the national side is hard to miss.
“It’s really tight, competition is very fierce, very tight this year, but if good things come out of it, it’ll feel much more rewarding.”
Silver Ferns goal shoot Grace Nweke speaks about the Constellation Cup series and the rivalry against the Diamonds in the final match. Video / Alyse Wright
