Netball: Ferns shooting stars say off court friendship is key

Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia are good friends. Photo / Getty Images

As a duo, Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia are a formidable pairing - but their partnership has endured some severe growing pains. Their combination on court can appear seamless but it has taken a lot of stitching together.

While their symmetry and understanding is a vital element of the Ferns' attack, for a long time many wondered if they could ever be compatible.

Van Dyk has talked for the first time about the "massive learning curve" over the past few seasons; of the difficult adjustment as the two worked to fit their natural styles into the team; and how her burgeoning friendship with Tutaia helped smooth out problems that may otherwise have arisen as the younger player has grown into a more dominant role.

Traditionally, a goal shoot in netball would contribute up to two thirds of her team's points, with a goal attack accounting for the rest. But van Dyk was so dominant and effective during the 2000s that she would often score well over 80 per cent of the team total.

Former circle partner Belinda Colling talks of a tricky adjustment when she teamed up with van Dyk: "With Irene, I had to adapt quite a bit," remembers Colling. "She takes up quite a bit of space, so it was difficult."

As a foil for van Dyk, Colling became almost a pure feeder. In contrast, Tutaia's strength is her shot, one of the sweetest in the game. So how would she fit in with van Dyk?

It was an uneasy beginning.

"I was always inside, holding my space, and the goal attack would stay out of the circle to promote the one on one situation," remembers van Dyk. "But Maria could take the shots from anywhere. I was like - where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?"

"In the early days, they had problems because they both wanted to shoot," says former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering. "Maria is a natural shooter, so she would come in and crowd the circle."

"There were such definite green areas within the court and within our partnership," says Tutaia. "We didn't expect things to turn out great straight away."

Van Dyk says it was a process of hard work and time to get a semblance of understanding, which also changed the entire dynamic of the team.

"It took us two or three years to work out how to complement each other," says van Dyk. "It was also a massive thing for us as a team to come to terms with the fact that I don't have to do all of the shooting. It changed quite a lot of the structure in our attacking end."

Van Dyk had been used to getting her hands on the ball every 30 seconds; now there were games where she might not see it for five minutes.

"She used to be a bit twitchy," says Ferns coach Ruth Aitken. "She would start to run out to get the ball. Now she knows that her time will come again and, as long as we are scoring at a rate of knots, it doesn't matter who does it."

The culmination was the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games final, where van Dyk shot just one goal across the two periods of extra time. Tutaia became the focal point - and the game-winning heroine.

There have been subtle changes, too.

While van Dyk will still spend most of today's game in the circle, their roles have become almost interchangeable.

"It is all down to that dominance factor," explains Willering. "We have always looked to Irene. Even when she was being marked by two people, the preference was to get the ball to Irene.

"That's changed now. There are times in games where Maria is the dominant character. There is a dominant and a less dominant role but that switches, depending on where the defenders are. It has changed the whole dynamics of the Silver Ferns."

"In Delhi, it was fantastic to see the balance of power change," adds Aitken, "but we know in any given game, it can revert back - so that makes us a real threat."

It is a little as if the queen has not exactly been shifted from her throne - but she has made room for the new princess; to the betterment of both. Such changes can be problematic, especially in the ego-fuelled field of sport.

Former Manchester United striking colleagues Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham detested each other, while Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal barely spoke during their time together at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Van Dyk admits there has been awkwardness but no antagonism, mainly because of their personal bond.

"If she wasn't my best buddy - we are really close - I don't know if I would have loved it that much."

"We hang out quite a bit," adds Tutaia. "We have the same sense of humour - not many of the other girls laugh at what we do. I'm lucky there is someone in the team who thinks I'm funny."