Netball: Taurua waits on tenterhooks

By Suzanne McFadden

Silver Fern shooter Noeline Taurua has an excruciating wait to find out how long she will be out of netball.

Taurua wrenched her left knee in an awkward landing during the opening round of the Star Series in Auckland on Friday night, and was yesterday nursing her injury at home in Rotorua.

It is a difficult wait for New Zealand veteran Taurua, who is hoping to have a scan today to reveal the extent of the damage.

The world championships are just four months away, and Silver Fern coach Yvonne Willering will pick her New Zealand team in three weeks.

Taurua was not the only New Zealand squad shooter to give Willering palpitations over the weekend. Otago's Jo Steed damaged ankle ligaments in a tangle of feet under the goalpost in Sunday's North-South game.

Steed returned home to Dunedin yesterday, and Sting shooter Debbie Nelson was flown from Invercargill for South's game against England in Christchurch tonight.

Taurua, who was playing for Central, was hobbling on crutches yesterday and hoping the injury was not as serious as she suffered in her opposite knee in 1993, when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament.

"It's so disppointing because this series was a step towards the Possibles-Probables trial," she said. "Playing against England would have been more international experience for me.

"The hard part is the waiting - just waiting to see what I've done and what the appropriate plan is."

Whether it is coincidence or not, all the injuries in the series so far have happened in the games between New Zealand teams.

Willering said it was no surprise that there was fierce rivalry in the internal clashes, even though the teams had never played before.

"When you get together the top 30 players in the country, it's going to be pretty competitive. It's not just a trial - teams want to win this series," she said.

Willering was impressed to see senior New Zealand players like Central captains Belinda Colling and Belinda Charteris and South's captain Bernice Mene helping the young players during their matches.

All four teams still have a chance to make Friday night's final in Dunedin. South are the favourites, with two wins from two going into their game against the up-and-down English side. Central, with one victory, meet the win-less North.