Netball: Loffhagen hints at what might have been

Donna Loffhagen

Double international Donna Loffhagen both taunted and teased at the netball provincial championships today as her commanding performance helped Southland run down Auckland Waitakere.

Loffhagen was to the fore as Southland erased an early 1-9 deficit to eventually power to a perfectly timed 46-41 victory at the Trusts Stadium in Waitakere.

Her duel with current Silver Fern defender Anna Scarlett was a focal point of an intensely physical clash that twice saw the lithe goalkeep need medical attention after heavy collisions.

Loffhagen, however, emerged unscathed and her 31 goals from 37 attempts were instrumental in negating an impressive return at the other end of the court from Silver Ferns rookie Maria Tutaia.

A 55-test international, Loffhagen's primary focus is basketball these days, a decision that must surely frustrate the Silver Ferns management considering their current lack of an experienced back-up to Irene Van Dyk and the fledgling Tutaia.

Belinda Colling's pregnancy-induced retirement leaves a gap that must be filled first against Australia next month, and then again for the world championship defence in Fiji next July.

On the strength of today's performance, Loffhagen would be the ideal replacement but unless she can be convinced to backtrack on the pursuit of a professional basketball career in Australia and then the United States, Ferns coach Ruth Aitken has to look elsewhere before naming a replacement on Saturday night.

Loffhagen's shooting partner for the second half of today's game, former Silver Fern Tania Dalton, may come into calculations.

Dalton, who last played for New Zealand at the 2003 world championships, made a solid return to a four-month post National Bank Cup lay-off, entering the fray shortly before the break and although she admitted a degree of rustiness she still managed 14 from 22 in a supporting role.

Tutaia, meanwhile, made 27 of 31 attempts to dominate Auckland Waitakere's haul.

The 19-year-old propelled the hosts to a lightning start, catching the southerners cold before they gradually found their groove.

Despite pegging back the early deficit, Southland trailed until latter stages of the third quarter before they carried a 34-31 advantage into the run home.

Loffhagen described the victory as a "great achievement" given their early predicament while captain Adine Wilson said it was the perfect tonic heading into the top six component of the competition tomorrow.

"It's better to finish on a high than come into it on a bit of a slope. (Tomorrow) is going to be exceptionally tough," Wilson said.

The leading provinces Canterbury, Waikato, Southland, North, Otago and Auckland Waitakere all have doubleheaders as the quest for a semifinal berth heats up.

Player recovery and rotation is now the name of the game as the workload increases.

Auckland Waitakere have already been affected by centre Jenny May Coffin's calf injury while Waikato's Van Dyk has a thigh strapped and is not expected to play the duration of games against Otago and defending champions North.

Canterbury ended section play as the only team with a 100 per cent win record after drubbing Otago 60-41 though that achievement has been rewarded with the dubious honour of back-to-back clashes with Southland and Auckland Waitakere.

North had a tougher than expected final section game against Wellington and needed the injection of Silver Ferns centre Temepara George to pull clear in the final quarter and triumph 49-39.

It was George's first appearance of the week after she was rested by coach Melissa Walker yesterday.

The workloads of other leading Silver Ferns, particularly those carrying injury niggles, is also being monitored by management and they are subject to stand down periods.

Davu, for example, has a knee problem and is expected to sit out one of Canterbury's games tomorrow.

Top six draw tomorrow:

Morning session: Canterbury v Auckland Waitakere, Otago v Waikato, North v Southland.

Afternoon session: Canterbury v Southland, Otago v Auckland Waitakere, North v Waikato.

- NZPA