Netball: Shooting for the top again

Jo Morrison is back from England and ready to add extra sparkle to the Diamonds. Picture / Martin Sykes

She has worn the Silver Fern and the English rose and now Jo Morrison finds herself donning the Diamonds' sea blue.

After five years in England, Morrison (nee Steed) is back in New Zealand and back in the National Bank Cup.

The 30 year-old was last seen in the competition in 1999. The following year she left for England to join her partner, now husband, Paul who was living in London.

One of eight new players in the Diamonds side, Morrison's return would have brought a smile to the faces of the national selectors. It's well known the country's supply of shooters is at a concerning low 11 months out from the Commonwealth Games.

Morrison said she hadn't thought too much about Silver Fern selection but if she were chosen, well "you don't turn down your national team do you".

Morrison was born in Cosford, Staffordshire. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was four, settling first at Maraetai beach before moving on to Motueka.

"Mum had a cousin out here and she said how wonderful it was so we decided to come over."

At ease in any sports arena, Morrison was a regular in Otago netball sides while studying in Dunedin. She was part of the Rebels side that won the inaugural National Bank Cup, then known as the Coca-Cola Cup. The Rebels are still the only team apart from the Sting to have won the competition.

Her performances for Otago launched her into the Silver Ferns where she was part of the team that finished a disappointing second in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Two years later she moved to England where she worked at a private school coaching netball and teaching PE.

"Lacrosse and netball were the only two sports in the school. It was very academic. We were the fourth in the country academically and were probably a feeder school to Oxford and Cambridge."

Not long after her arrival in England she got a call from England's high-erformance director and former Silver Fern Waimarama Taumaunu asking her to trial for England.

"It was quite a shock actually ... I hadn't gone there to play netball."

Her first match for England was in New Zealand against her old team-mates, the Silver Ferns.

"I really had mixed emotions," she concedes. "I am definitely a Kiwi at heart. I found that really hard."

Morrison said she enjoyed netball in England, especially the Super Cup - a competition similar to the National Bank Cup - which was introduced in 2001.

"That was a good level of netball. Just the marketing needed to be a bit better. That is the biggest thing in England, there is no profile."

But in 2002 she felt a "bit stale" and cut all ties from the game until joining the Diamonds last year, which came after "a bit of a recruitment drive from a few mates".

Morrison said the game was "a lot more physical and faster" than she recalled but she was really enjoying working with new Diamonds coach, former Australian shooter Sue Hawkins.

"I have never had a specialist shooting coach before and she has really got that creativity and has added another level to my game. It is great fun and I never thought I could get that feeling back again."

Jo Morrison

Born: England, March 20, 1975.
Occupation: Director of sport Auckland Girls' Grammar
Height: 1.84m
Positions: GS, GA
Test caps: 6 for New Zealand

Career highlights

2005: Auckland Waitakere Trusts Diamonds
2000-02: England
1997-99: Silver Ferns
1998-99: Otago Rebels