Irene van Dyk has a big surprise waiting for defenders who think she's past her best. Photo / Richard Robinson
Irene van Dyk laughs when pretenders for the world netball champions' crown say they have her number.
That other teams reckon they can unravel the world's most accurate shooter, the Silver Ferns' brightest jewel, appeals to van Dyk.
"In a way, I like that," she says.
"They think
they have me figured out? I say, 'Come play against me, then we'll talk again. Bring on those defenders and let's see who ends up shining at the end of the night'."
Van Dyk is 35, and when tonight's game against the Malawi Queens starts, she will be in her fourth world championship, spanning 12 years.
Other players might see such a landmark as the twilight of their careers, but van Dyk isn't ready to quit.
Six months ago, it seemed her star was waning as she was out-foxed by English and Australian defenders. But in determined van Dyk style - and with husband Christie prodding her - she re-invented her game.
She acknowledges the pressure that goes with being the Fern who ultimately holds the key to success because she scores the points.
"I know a lot of people think I have all the pressure, but I don't feel it.
"I think it's because I'm a happy-go-lucky person - whatever happens happens. But I always do my damndest to win.
"It's nice to know that people are relying on me, that they trust me. When you know that, there's less chance you'll screw up, because you don't want to disappoint them."
Van Dyk never knew pressure when she played her first world championships, for South Africa in 1995 - the year the Proteas, returning after apartheid, knocked the Ferns out.
"We'd come out of the wop-wops to play ball. We looked at the Silver Ferns and said, 'I wish I looked like that. So strong, so powerful in black'."
Van Dyk says she has never trained as hard as in the past 12 months, aiming to win consecutive world titles for the first time.
Defenders have pinched her, spat in her ear, but never made her cry. Yesterday, though, van Dyk's famous sapphire eyes welled with tears.
Her mother, Irene Viljoen, flew in from South Africa to watch her "Kiwi" daughter play. Mother and daughter last saw each other for a week in 2004.
The reward from these world championships is already immense.
