Netball: Latu named as case drags on

Cathrine Latu. Photo / Getty Images

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken is confident Cathrine Latu's controversial selection won't distract her side in their build-up to the world championships.

Latu, who has played 30 tests for Samoa, was yesterday named in Aitken's 12-strong squad for the July tournament. But whether the 24-year-old will take the court in Singapore lies in the hands of Netball New Zealand's lawyers.

The national body has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a ruling by the International Federation of Netball Associations that has deemed Latu to be ineligible to represent New Zealand until after this year's championships.

The move has caused unrest in the international netball community.

Netball NZ has been accused of bending the eligibility rules to suit itself and has been portrayed as a bully stopping at nothing to get Latu in the team.

Despite public sentiment against the decision, Aitken is happy with Netball NZ going to such lengths for Latu.

"I am comfortable [with it], because in the end if Cathrine is deemed eligible then she deserves an opportunity to be at the world championships," she said.

"Certainly from the legal side of things I'm not an expert in it at all, but I believe we have a really good case and all we want is a neutral body to make a fair decision and we will absolutely abide by it."

Latu is keeping her head down.

"I've been trying to keep myself out of it and not have too much information so that I don't get stuck in it."

Latu was excited when she got the call from Aitken yesterday morning but did not want to get her hopes up as there is still a long legal road ahead.

She also said there was some lingering disappointment over her performance in the Mystics' dreadful loss to the NSW Swifts on Monday night, in which she was benched in the final quarter.

"I didn't play very well and I tend to hold on to that, so it probably wasn't the reaction Ruth was looking for. But I am really excited and I know I am really lucky," she said.

Latu takes it as a huge mark of respect that Netball NZ is so confident in her ability that it took the fight over her eligibility to the world's highest sporting judicial body.

Latu and the Southern Steel's Paula Griffin were the only new faces in the Ferns squad with the selectors predictably maintaining the bulk of the team that won gold at last year's Commonwealth Games.

Griffin, who made the shock decision to make herself unavailable for Ferns selection last season, returns to the squad after getting the nod ahead of Anna Thompson and Grace Rasmussen, both of whom filled in while Griffin was on her sabbatical.

Rasmussen looks set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after badly injuring her knee in the Mystics match on Monday night.

But her consistency and form to date have not been strong enough to warrant inclusion as a shooter with the majority of her court time for the Mystics spent at wing attack.

Likewise neither Griffin nor Thompson's form was such that they demanded selection but Aitken said Griffin got the nod as she is considered more robust in the shooting circle.

"She has a great physical attribute that she brings into the goal circle, her height, her ability to rebound strongly and she has a great shot on her that she is able to execute under strong pressure, especially from long arms," said Aitken.

The squad will assemble for the first time in early June to begin their world championship preparation, which includes two tests against arch rivals Australia.