Netball: Keeping the enemy at bay

By JULIE ASH

A young Vilimaina Davu was told she was too aggressive to be a shooter and, as a result, was banished to the defensive end.

Luckily it didn't bother the then 8-year-old Davu, who was happy just to be on the court, be it as a shooter or on defence.

Eighteen years later it is that aggression, as well as a truckload of power and a heap of enthusiasm, that makes Davu one of the game's most feared defenders and a key member of the Silver Ferns team who have their sights set on gold at next month's world championships in Jamaica.

"I am looking forward to it, but I am a bit nervous," Davu said.

"I think the girls feel ready. We know we have a few things to tidy up but we definitely feel we are on the right track."

The tournament in Jamaica is Davu's second world championship. She played for Fiji in Christchurch in 1999.

"We met New Zealand in the quarter-finals, which was an interesting experience.

"They hammered us by about 30 points. Then we had to play South Africa for fifth and sixth spots and I was up against Irene van Dyk.

"They beat us by about three ... It was a good game."

A year later Davu found herself playing alongside van Dyk in the New Zealand team.

"It is quite funny really when you think back. Irene made the team in July 2000 and I got in later that same year."

But it was at the 1999 world championships that Davu's association with New Zealand netball began when she was spotted by members of the Canterbury Flames franchise.

"They then asked me if I wanted to trial for the Flames," said Davu, whose uncle was a Fijian soccer representative and father represented Fiji in boxing.

"I was pretty nervous coming into a team with such a high calibre of players," she said.

"But I had a good trial and straight away they asked me to play for them.

" I was so excited to be playing alongside the likes of Belinda Charteris and Julie Seymour.

"I always wanted to leave Fiji, play in New Zealand and then take back to Fiji what I had learnt. So it was a dream come true."

If securing a place in the Flames was exciting, imagine Davu's reaction when she was named in the Silver Ferns just a few months after her move to New Zealand.

"For me, I came to New Zealand to learn. But to get to play alongside the people I looked up to, like Linda Vagana and Bernice Mene, it was just like 'wow'.

"But my Flames team-mates deserve a lot of the credit for getting me into the Silver Ferns. They really helped get me up there."

And her most memorable match so far?

"Playing Australia in the final of the Commonwealth Games. Even though we lost it was a great game and I got to play for the whole game," she said.

"It was an experience I will never forget."

With the world champs less than four weeks away, Davu and the New Zealand team are now in their final preparations.

"I have been doing a lot of agility and speed work and we have all been in saunas biking to get used to the heat.

"It is pretty hard, to be honest," she said. "You get tired very quickly."

But come next month Davu is confident the only thing on fire will be the Silver Ferns defence.

"I have really tried to make sure I have got variety in my defence.

"But I am still learning and there is always plenty of room for improvement."

But in terms of aggressiveness, well, that's one aspect of the game Davu has got mastered.

Inside Track

* Name: Vilimaina Davu

* Born: January 15, 1977, in Fiji

* Occupation: Student

* Height: 1.90m

* Position: Goal keep

* Tests: 55 for Fiji, 25 for New Zealand

* Career highlights:

2000/03: Silver Ferns

1991/99: Fiji

2000/03: Canterbury Flames