Netball: Te Huna signs with Otago Rebels

Jodi Te Huna

Jodi Te Huna will be in Otago colours when she returns to netball from her injury lay-off.

The Otago Rebels have signed the Silvers Ferns shooter, the Otago Daily Times reported today.

Te Huna, 25, relocated to Dunedin a month ago to be with her partner.

She said she was excited about joining her new team for the National Bank Cup.

"I'm aiming to provide some guidance for the younger players and, hopefully, we can build a team that, in one or two years time, will be a force to reckon with," Te Huna told the newspaper.

The former Auckland Diamonds player has been out of action since injuring her knee in a warmup match in Melbourne just days before the Commonwealth Games started.

She has nearly recovered fully now and resumed training, but confirmed she would not be playing in this month's national championships in Auckland.

She said commuting to Auckland from Dunedin was not an option while she was trying to fight her way back.

Up to 18 players will be named on September 30, the final day of the national championships, for New Zealand's world championship defence in Fiji next year.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken said the squad may not be the final one as the door would remain open for other candidates such as Te Huna.

"We do have the ability to invite others in if we consider that they're worthy of it," Aitken said.

World championship trials will take place in February, with the final to be named after that.

The trials are likely to involve the 18 players from the initial squad, the best performers to emerge form the New Zealand A and under-21 programmes and, fitness allowing, Te Huna.

Te Huna could be slotted into a New Zealand 12 which Aitken says is light on shooters.

- NZPA