Netball: Breaks from game spur top pair

Temepara George has something to prove in Singapore. Pictures / Getty Images

Temepara George has a secret that could threaten the success of the Silver Ferns' world championship campaign.

Printing it could end all chances the Ferns have of winning the title. So in the interests of national pride, we won't.

But let's just say New Zealand have lost two major tournaments in the past decade - the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the world championships in Auckland in 2007 - and a certain little pocket rocket missed both of them.

George fears that if she talks about it, her winning streak may come to an end.

"I didn't think of it, and then someone mentioned it to me and I was like 'oh yeah, true'. But I don't like talking about it - I don't want to jinx it."

Nor does she want to dwell on why she missed the last world championships - she is grateful to attend another tournament.

"I think any world championships is really special. This is obviously a really different team to the team we had back in 2003, when I last went to one, so I feel fortunate to be still involved," she said.

"I'm kind of at the end of my career as well, so to go to another world champs is awesome."

Back in 2007 George thought she might not play for the Silver Ferns again, let alone at another world championships. The veteran midcourter walked out on the national team just months before the world tournament, opting to move to Australia with her partner at the time, rugby league bad boy Sione Faumuina.

For many women there comes a time when you have to choose between your relationship and career. George copped a lot of criticism over the move, talkback lines ran hot with fans angrily accusing the Ferns linchpin of abandoning her country.

And when things didn't work out with Faumuina, the "I told you sos" rang even louder.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken understood George's reasoning for her shock withdrawal from the team in 2007. She was extremely disappointed, but she understood.

And so when George chose to make herself available again for the New Zealand team in 2009, she was welcomed with open arms - as long as she was prepared to commit to last year's Commonwealth Games campaign and the Singapore world championships.

For Anna Scarlett, George's Northern Mystics teammate, sitting out the last world championships was not a decision she made for herself.

The lanky defender, who as a 20-year-old was a part of the Ferns' famous victory in Jamaica 2003, was dropped from the national side in mid-2007 after a disappointing tour to Britain.

Her axing still came as a shock. Scarlett knew there were elements of her game she needed to work on, but had been led to believe she would play in her home tournament.

The bitter disappointment she felt in missing out led her to walk away from the game and take on a new challenge - beach volleyball. Teaming up with New Zealand number one Susan Blundell, Scarlett embarked on the professional tour with the goal of qualifying for the London Olympics.

But with very little funding, the challenges Scarlett and Blundell faced were not limited to the sand.

They had no coach or manager so they had to organise all their travel, accommodation, food, transport and training arrangements themselves.

It was tough going both physically and mentally. In mid-2010 when she found herself lying on a mattress on the floor of an unfurnished apartment in Brazil wondering where her next meal was coming from, Scarlett decided she'd had enough.

She walked straight back into the Ferns team having barely picked up a netball, returning to play a key role in New Zealand's gold medal in Delhi.

"Going to a world champs is particularly special for me because I spent that time away from netball and thought I wasn't going to come back. So to come back and have that renewed love for the game is really exciting," she said.

George and Scarlett have endured deeper lows than most players in their careers. But they are hoping the events of next week will more than make up for those tough times.

The pair have the opportunity to be a part of something special - something no other New Zealand side have been able to achieve: back-to-back gold medals at major tournaments following last year's Commonwealth Games triumph.

But not only do they want to be a part of it, they want to lead the way.

As a rookie, Scarlett watched from the sidelines in Jamaica as the Ferns toppled Australia in the 2003 final.

She so desperately wanted to be a part of a world championship-winning team out on court.

She didn't get the chance in 2007; now she hopes this will be her year.

Despite the success in Delhi, George didn't have her best tournament personally.

She struggled with an ear infection during the early rounds and had little time to find her feet before the business end of the competition.

This time she is fully fit ("Touch wood," she quickly adds - she wouldn't want to jinx it), and if her gutsy showing in last month's two-test series against Australia is anything to go by, playing some of the best netball of her career.