Netball: Rowberry putting her best foot forward

The speedy Anna Rowberry was missed in the series loss to Australia. Picture / Richard Robinson

You felt her exhilaration when she captained the Silver Ferns to success in the 2003 world championships and cringed when she blew out her knee last year against Australia.

It is fair to say the emotional Richter scale gets a good work out when following the career of Silver Fern Anna Rowberry.

From the despair of rejection, to the elation of success to the frustration of injury - like most athletes Rowberry has encountered it all.

But despite the highs and lows she has hung in there and it is probably fair to say her game has evolved as time has gone by.

But once again Rowberry finds herself on the outside of the stadium peering in.

The 28 year-old is currently on the mend after a painful-looking encounter with the floorboards during the Silver Ferns' final test against Australia in July.

Rowberry ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, which required surgery and a lengthy layoff.

She had hoped to return to the court for the test series against England in March but that is looking unlikely as her toned left leg comes to terms with a carefully repaired knee ligament.

The determined Rowberry has been back at the gym and running for some time. She is even putting herself through rigorous boxing sessions with Auckland trainer August Lam, the man charged with getting David Tua in shape for his comeback fight in March.

"It seems the knee takes a lot longer to heal than I thought," she concedes. "Since the beginning of the year I have been back on court and actually simulating netball moves and getting those lateral moves going. For a while I could only run in a straight line and that was about it.

"But I think the big thing is confidence. They often say that is the big barrier you have to get through ... knowing your knee is fine after a certain amount of time."

If she doesn't feel up to her speedy, skilful self in time for the England series, Rowberry has earmarked the National Bank Cup competition for her comeback.

" I know my knee is never going to be the same as my good one. It is just as long as it doesn't get any worse. The reality is that for the next year I might have a bit of knee pain when I am playing but I can cope with that."

Rowberry had only just returned to full match fitness after breaking her arm last March in a pre-season tournament.

That followed a lengthy battle with a calf strain which saw her sidelined for a lot of the world championship tournament in Jamaica.

But despite her run of adversity, retiring is not something Rowberry has contemplated.

"When you have a break it does refresh you. For me these last six months have allowed me to get away from the game a little bit and enjoy doing other things and it certainly gives you a bit more of a spark to come back for," said Rowberry, who was axed from the Silver Ferns in 2000 and had to wait two years to be recalled.

"Especially with the [Auckland Waitakere] Diamonds. It is a new team, we have a new coach and there are all these exciting things happening which does fire you up a bit."

The knee injury did rule Rowberry out of last year's return series against Australia, which New Zealand lost 2-1.

Although Temepara Clark and Adine Wilson performed well, the Silver Ferns' hesitancy in feeding shooter Irene van Dyk was a big problem.

That probably wouldn't have been the case had the fleet-footed, bullet-passing Rowberry been on the court rather than sitting alongside it.

"It is interesting being on the other side. You don't sort of realise how much you winning and losing means to people. I went over with a big tour group and after that last test when they lost, the ride back on the bus was just like you had been to a funeral.

"I was kind of like 'oh my God'. As an athlete you are really gutted when you lose and you kind of remove yourself from everything else because you are totally fixed on your job within the team and everything is about the team. You forget you are out there playing for all these people."

And all these people are counting on Rowberry to ignite a few more emotions, preferably good ones.

Especially in a little over a year's time when the Silver Ferns line up in Melbourne in pursuit of a Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Anna Rowberry

Age: 28.
Place of birth: Christchurch.
Lives: Auckland.
Height: 1.76m
Position: C, WA
Test caps: 83
Career:1994/2000, 2002/04: Silver Ferns
2001/05: Auckland Diamonds
1998/99: Otago Rebels.