Netball: New mum Wilkins set to give career one more push

Donna Wilkins has signed to play with the Canterbury Tactix. Photo / Supplied

A sedentary lifestyle has never appealed to Donna Wilkins.

Which is why just four weeks after what she describes as the "traumatic" birth of baby son Jack, the former Silver Fern has signed to play for the Canterbury Tactix in next year's transtasman league.

Her first crack at juggling motherhood and professional sport didn't quite go to plan when she turned out for the Southern Steel in 2009 after having her first son, Cooper. While Wilkins impressed in her first season of transtasman netball, proving to be arguably the best goal attack in the country, off the court it wasn't such smooth sailing.

By the end of the season she was left feeling aggrieved at what she perceived as a lack of support and understanding from the team's management. Still, she was always keen to give the league another go, even after pregnancy intervened last season. The Tactix, who were in the hunt to secure Wilkins' signature for 2010, remained patient and were the first in line to snaffle the double international for next season.

But it has to be asked, with nothing else left to prove in the sport, what is driving Wilkins to come back?

It's partly her competitiveness, partly the desire to share her experience and knowledge with the young Tactix side, but mostly the realisation gnawing away in the back of her mind that you are a long time retired.

"I guess I'm sort of doing it for selfish reasons as well.

"The idea of getting out there and getting fit again and having a goal at the end of the tunnel is appealing, otherwise I'll probably just sit here and watch TV and run around after the kids," said Wilkins.

"So that's a great incentive to get out there."

For now though, the 32-year-old will have to stay put on the couch - it will be at least another two weeks before she can begin her long road back to fitness.

As was the case after the birth of Cooper, Wilkins' comeback has been complicated by the fact she required another emergency caesarean.

That generally means a six-week recovery period, but Wilkins may face a longer wait as doctors were forced to make both a latitudinal and longitudinal incision as wee Jack needed to get out in a hurry.

"My first birth with Cooper [now 20 months] didn't exactly go to plan, and then this one didn't either. I ended up having an emergency caesarean again and we actually nearly lost Jack, so it was pretty touch and go," Wilkins explained.

"So I don't do things easily."

Wilkins said she would wait until she was given the go-ahead from her specialist before getting back into any type of physical activity.

"Because they ended up cutting me both ways, it'll take longer to heal, but I'm hoping after the six weeks I'll be able to get out for a couple of walks," she said.

"I actually feel a bit better than I did after Cooper. I was in there three times as long, so my body went through a lot of trauma with Cooper, whereas this time it was Jack that got all the drama."

Wilkins said she had learned from her previous experience coming back from childbirth not to push herself too hard too soon.

"Last time I probably pushed myself a bit much, because I knew I only had four months to the first game."

She won't be under the same time constraints this time around, but there is still plenty of pressure to get back up to speed quickly, given she has been hailed as the saviour of the Tactix.

The Canterbury side finished bottom of the table in 2010 and are desperate to turn that around next season.

But Wilkins said she did not feel any extra pressure to pull the Tactix out of the doldrums: "I kind of look at it as whatever we do is going to be an improvement. We can only go up from here."

Donna Wilkins
* Born: April 29, 1978
* Height: 1.85m
* Positions: GS, GA
* Test caps: 64 (Silver Ferns from 1996-2002)