Netball: Australian to turn out in NZ trial

By Suzanne McFadden

Lisa Gregory was told in Australia that she was too short to play netball, but she might be just right for the Silver Ferns.

The shooter from Adelaide has been invited to play in a trial for the New Zealand team tomorrow to select a team to play tests against Jamaica next week and her birth nation at the end of next month.

Gregory is eligible to play for New Zealand after a season with Canterbury last year.

She and husband, Jason, a former first-grade Australian rugby league player who broke his neck on the field, crossed the ditch after she missed out on a place in the Adelaide Ravens side.

"They told me I was too short," said Gregory, who measures in at 175cm.

"You want something with a bit more substance than that - even if they had to lie."

Former New Zealand coach Leigh Gibbs called her straight away and asked her to try out for the Canterbury Flames in the Coca-Cola Cup.

New Zealand coach Yvonne Willering had not seen enough of 27-year-old Gregory to put her in the national squad, but sent her a late invitation to this week's trial.

Gregory has settled in Christchurch and has a job with Sport Canterbury. Her husband has been managing the fitness training of the Flames since October.

A former Canterbury Raider and Gold Coast Seagulls halfback, he worked on the coaching staff of the Adelaide Rams Super League side after his 1992 accident.

Gregory said she would have no trouble lining up with the Silver Ferns while the strains of Advance Australia Fair fill the new stadium in Christchurch.

"It wouldn't bother me a bit.

"I never played for Australia and I think I'm a New Zealander now," she said.

She has played alongside only one of the New Zealand squad members, Julie Seymour (formerly Dawson), who has been bugged by an Achilles tendon injury.

Neither has she played with any of the Australian side who were named yesterday for the one-off test with five notable names missing.

Simone McKinnis, arguably the world's best wing-defence, shooter Nicole Cusack and defender Sarah Sutter have retired, while Carissa Tombs and Liz Taverner were unavailable.

Said Gregory: "I think they can be rolled. They look the most vulnerable I have ever seen them."

New Zealand squad: Donna Loffhagen, Jo Steed, Belinda Colling, Lisa Gregory, Teresa Tairi, Noeline Taurua, Anna Rowberry, Jenny-May Coffin, Sonya Hardcastle, Julie Seymour (Dawson), Lesley Nicol, Louisa Wall, Belinda Charteris (Blair), Bernice Mene, Linda Vagana, Lorna Suafoa, Kate Dowling.

Australia: Jenny Borlase, Jacqui Delaney, Liz Ellis, Sharon Finnan, Kathy Harby, Alex Hodge, Janine Ilitch, Sharelle McMahon, Shelley O'Donnell, Rebecca Sanders, Peta Squire, Vicki Wilson.

Pictured: Lisa Gregory.