Netball: Wilson’s knee injury counters shine of Rowberry comeback

Anna Rowberry shows flashes of her trademark speed and power during her return to play at the weekend after knee surgery. Picture / Kenny Rodger

While Silver Ferns captain Anna Rowberry returned to the court over the weekend, Adine Wilson suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury in Australia.

Wilson was playing for the Southern Sting in the Sopa Cup in Sydney, a tournament that involved some of Australia's Commonwealth Bank trophy teams, North Harbour's Force and the England international side.

Sting coach Robyn Broughton said Wilson twisted her knee badly in the side's first match on Friday. She was taken to see the doctor for the Crusaders Super 12 rugby team, Deb Robinson, who is also the Silver Ferns doctor.

Broughton said Robinson believed Wilson had no ligament damage which would require surgery, but could not be certain until she had a scan.

A bad sprain would still rule her out for a significant amount of the 10-week competition, which would put a huge dent in the Sting's chances of claiming their seventh consecutive National Bank Cup title.

Wilson stood in for the injured Lesley Rumball as captain during the Silver Ferns' recent England series. Rumball was already the stand-in skipper for Rowberry, who had knee surgery last August.

Rowberry was back on the court at the weekend when the Diamonds played the Melbourne Kestrels.

The two sides squared off at the Waitakere Trusts Stadium three times over the weekend.

The Kestrels, whose lineup included Australian internationals Cynna Neele and Shelley O'Donnell, won the two training matches on Saturday but the Diamonds recovered from a slow start to win the proper 60-minute match 55-53.

Rowberry appeared a little tentative and at times tended to favour her right leg. But she did show glimpses of her habitual fleet-footed power throughout the game.

"I am still a bit rusty ... but the knee is feeling good," she said.

"In certain movements I probably try to land on my right leg instead of my sore leg but in saying that I don't feel like I have lost too much pace."

The Diamonds stuck with the same seven throughout yesterday's match. Jo Morrison (formerly Steed) and Jodi Te Huna teamed up in the shooting circle, Stephanie Bond and former Australia captain Kathryn Harby-Williams on defence and Rowberry, Victoria Edward and Rachel Rasmussen in the midcourt.

Although both sides were a bit rusty, the Diamonds showed plenty of promise in the shooting third, which has been a problem area for them in the past.

While having three Silver Ferns - Rowberry, Edward and Te Huna - obviously helped, former England player Morrison slotted in effortlessly. The side also have former Silver Fern Carron Jerram and promising New Zealand under-21 player Maria Tutaia, who was called into the Silver Ferns for the series against England, in their shooting ranks, giving them more depth than most in the crucial shooting circle.

Bond and Harby-Williams were effective in defence but the side will need to brush up on their flow through court before they face the highly fancied Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic next weekend.

Against the Kestrels the Diamonds were guilty of a few too many wonky diagonal passes which often went astray. But that is probably the result of a lack of time together more than anything else. Like several of the teams in the competition, the Diamonds' preparation has been disrupted due to the Silver Ferns and New Zealand under-21 players having representative commitments.

The new Diamonds coach, former Australian international Sue Hawkins, said: "It has been hard but you have to deal with it as a coach. You can't build in this competition because it is only one round, you've got what you have now and all you can really do is tidy it up."