Netball: British champion settles in swiftly

England's Pamela Cookey enjoyed a winning Mystics debut. Photo / Getty Images

She collected a bruised face in her first run for the Northern Mystics last week but English import Pamela Cookey isn't showing any signs of regret over her decision to join the fierce transtasman netball competition.

"It was a nice welcome," jokes Cookey. "But in all honesty, it was just really good to get on court and start playing."

The goal attack missed the stunning pre-season Mystics form, arriving in New Zealand a day after her side's first-round loss to the Magic.

Her decision to stay in the Northern Hemisphere was to honour her captaincy and commitments to United Kingdom Superleague franchise TeamBath.

It bucked the trend of English team-mates Geva Mentor (Thunderbirds), Tamsyn Greenway (Firebirds) and Sonia Mkoloma (Tactix), who all left early for the ANZ Championship.

The decision proved fruitful for the 24-year-old, as she led TeamBath to an eight-point championship win over the eastern region Mavericks.

But, with Cookey's feet firmly on New Zealand soil, Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan wasted no time injecting the athletic shooter into the playing squad to face second round opponents the Central Pulse last Monday.

Cookey sat out the first half but replaced Grace Rasmussen at goal attack for the second half. After a shaky first few minutes, Cookey settled in and teamed well with goal shoot Catherine Latu to help the Mystics defeat the Pulse. Both shot at slightly less than 90 per cent.

After spending many hours watching replays of the transtasman games last year, Cookey is thrilled to finally have the chance to compete against some of the world's best netballers on a weekly basis. After just a few weeks in the country, she is settling in to Kiwi life seamlessly.

"I've got my car now so I just whip out my map and make my way to wherever I need to be," Cookey says.

"The first day I was here, we [the team] all had breakfast together and everyone was joking and laughing. Everyone has just treated me as one of their own. I've not felt an outsider at all.

"In fact, I was down the beach the other day and someone came up to me and I was like, 'I've only been here about two days and already someone knows who I am'. That's just crazy."

Cookey hopes the playing experience she will gain here will not only be of personal benefit but will also help develop a new generation of keen, talented netballers back in the United Kingdom.

"The girls who were here last year and came back home brought some really good netball back with them," she says.

"Hopefully we can continue to be educated and improve as netballers. Back home in England, netball's not as popular as here but it's getting bigger, so this will only help increase our standard and participation of the sport."

Cookey hopes to improve on her performance this week as the Mystics make a bid to be the first New Zealand team to win on Australian soil when they face the West Coast Fever in Perth tomorrow night.