Leana de Bruin and Caleb, who is in Sydney to watch his mother play. Photo / Michael Bradley
Springing on the balls of her feet at the side of the court as she awaits the start of the second half of the Silver Ferns' top eight clash against Jamaica, Leana de Bruin looks almost excited.
The Ferns are trailing the Sunshine Girls by three goals at halftime after a poor second quarter, in which the Jamaican shooting circle became Romelda Aiken's aerial playground.
The crowd of mainly Australian supporters packed into the arena for the later clash between the Diamonds and England sense a boilover. Every error from the Ferns side is cheered with great enthusiasm, every goal to Jamaica is cheered even louder.
At the close of her career, de Bruin has fittingly come to find herself playing the role as the Silver Ferns' closer. Katrina Grant has been given the starting goal defence bib and tasked with running the goal attack ragged in the first half, before de Bruin enters the match to give the attack line something else to think about.
On Tuesday night, part one of the plan didn't go so well, with the Jamaicans finding good rhythm in the opening half. De Bruin knows she has to come on and halt the Jamaicans' momentum fast.
It doesn't take long before a turnover opportunity is created, with the 38 year-old defender getting a hand to a high ball into Aiken. She pounces on a loose ball and finds Laura Langman on the fly. In two phases the Ferns have the ball down the other end of the court. Satisfied, de Bruin heads back to Casey Kopua for a quick debrief, and canters back into position.
It is arguably the biggest tournament of her career, certainly her last World Cup, and de Bruin seems entirely at ease.
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It took a long time for de Bruin to feel at ease in the black dress. She never thought she'd be good enough to play for the Silver Ferns and she certainly never thought in a country known for producing world-class defenders, she would go on to become New Zealand's most-capped defender.
Come tomorrow, de Bruin is set to notch up her 100th test for the Silver Ferns. Whether that be playing off for gold or playing off for bronze remains to be seen. Either way, it will probably be her last.
Sitting in a sunny corner of the team's hotel at Sydney Olympic Park with the Allphones Arena - the likely stage for her international career's final act - perched off in the distance over her right shoulder, de Bruin still can't believe she played a first test for the Ferns. She can see now she had the talent, but back then she had little in the way of self-confidence.
After arriving in New Zealand in 2001 hard on the heels of her close friend and South African netball's finest export, Irene van Dyk, de Bruin (then du Plooy) felt out of place both on and off the court. Having spoken only Afrikaans back home in Bethlehem in South Africa's Free State, her English was limited. De Bruin didn't have the profile or magnetic personality of van Dyk to compensate for the language difficulties. She was shy and unsure of herself. It was a by-product, de Bruin says, of being a tall girl and always feeling like she stuck out.
"When you're so tall and lanky growing up every one kind of made fun of you and gave you a bit of flak, so I probably wasn't the most confident person."
De Bruin had only planned on being in New Zealand for a season. After touring the country with a world seven selection team in 2000, the 1.9m defender was offered a contract with the Southern Sting in the National Bank Cup. She stuck around for the NPC that year and she thought that would be her lot, she'd had a good little netball OE and she'd return to South Africa stronger and wiser.
But then came the first big phone call. The Capital Shakers were on the hunt for a defender after one of their players suffered a major injury, and coach Tanya Dearns got in touch with de Bruin to see if she'd be interested playing in Wellington. She thought "why not?"
The second big call came from Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, giving de Bruin the news she had made the test side for the tour to England at the beginning of 2003. With the shock retirement of Bernice Mene the year before, and Anna Galvan deciding to take time out to start a family, de Bruin couldn't help but feel she hadn't really earned her place in the side. That mindset didn't change when she was named in the 2003 line-up for the World Cup.
"The way I basically got into the [World Cup] team for 2003 was I was kind of next in line. I didn't do myself any favours because I obviously didn't believe in myself and didn't really play that well. I think I was a bit overwhelmed, because I didn't see what I could offer that team."
She wasn't the least bit surprised when she was dropped from the Ferns following their 2003 triumph in Jamaica.
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That's where the third big call comes in. The one that de Bruin says saved her career. Former Ferns coach Yvonne Willering phoned de Bruin in early 2004 and asked to come around for a chat. The athletic defender had no inkling what Willering could possibly want to talk to her about.
"I was really nervous because I thought she was just one of those amazing coaches, and I didn't even know how I was going to talk to this lady, let alone have her in my house," laughs de Bruin.
But if you know Willering, you know she does most of the talking.
"She sat down and said 'look kid, you haven't even scratched the surface of your potential yet'," de Bruin recalls.
"I was kind of like 'woah, here's this amazing coach telling me that I have got something'. She picked me up from there and just taught me to play the game in a way that suits my abilities, so I really have her to thank for where I am now."
The former New Zealand coach has been a constant sounding board for de Bruin over the years. At the end of games the pair can be seen catching up on the sidelines, the demonstrative Willering always at the ready with little bits of advice.
She was there too at the end of last year when de Bruin reached the point again where she felt like she didn't have anything more to give the Silver Ferns.
The Ferns had just come off their worst season since the mid-90s, following up a hefty 18-goal defeat to Australia in the Commonwealth Games final with a humiliating 4-0 series loss in the Constellation Cup series.
The self-doubt that plagued de Bruin at the beginning of her career returned.
"I thought 'oh is it time for me to go?' because I didn't know if I could offer what it takes to beat the Aussies," she said.
"I had to sit down and say 'okay, am I going to give it up, or am I going to close my eyes and go hard for the next nine months?'. I'm very glad I didn't give it up."
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De Bruin seems remarkably relaxed about the challenge her side face this weekend. Her son Caleb flew in yesterday with family for the finals to see him mum play on world netball's biggest stage one last time.
At five, Caleb is now at an age where he is beginning to understand his mum is a bit special.
"Sometimes he asks me if I reckon he'll be famous as well and he goes on about Richie McCaw a lot. I'm obviously not like Richie McCaw, but whenever he sees a poster of me in the supermarket, [Caleb] thinks it is amazing," laughs de Bruin, a single mum since 2012.
She says now she is coming to the end of her career she is just trying to focus on enjoying the experience. The fact the Ferns went into the tournament as underdogs has also helped, with the inexperienced team freed from the burden of public expectation.
"Someone asked me the other day what I've learned from those young ones. And they just have fun eh? They just go out there and play - they just love the game. So it makes me think 'okay, just enjoy the moment'."
"I think also knowing the work we've put in this year gives us confidence. We know we've worked really hard to get there and we can just go, right, we've done the work, now let's just play."
De Bruin is testament to just how far a bit of confidence can take you.
Kate Heffernan wants the Silver Ferns eligibility rules to change.