1.00pm
Scotland-bound shooter Belinda Colling still wants to play for the Silver Ferns in the three-test return netball series against Australia in November.
The Canterbury Flames captain will leave New Zealand at the end of this month to join partner Charlie Hore who has a two-year professional rugby contract with the Borders
club.
Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken said yesterday she was pleased from the team's point of view that Colling was keen.
"But once she gets over there, it might be a little bit different."
Aitken would be looking for all the New Zealand players, including her premier goal attack, to confirm their availability before the Smokefree championships in Palmerston North from September 20-25.
"A lot will depend on how she finds training, how that distance training works."
The coach had no problems with Colling being unavailable for the Palmerston North tournament.
Silver Ferns Adine Harper and Anna Scarlett both missed the 2003 championships.
"They don't need to be playing day-in day-out because they've had years of it," Aitken said.
"And if you think of the background that Belinda's had in netball, she's put a lot in over a few years."
But the coach said Colling would need to come back for "some reasonable blocks of time".
The Ferns, for instance, had a training camp scheduled in mid-October ahead of the November tests in Australia.
"So it certainly wouldn't be a commuting-back-for-a-weekend sort of thing. That wouldn't work."
Aitken made it clear she did not want to encourage all the Ferns to be offshore.
She said that, knowing Colling, if the 77-test campaigner came back to play, "she would want to play well as well".
Aitken was not yet clear how Colling continuing her involvement with netball here would work.
"But no doubt Bill (Colling) will sort things out."
- NZPA
