After a heady few months, rising young midcourt talent Skylah Tainui-Takerei is poised to build on her momentum when Central Manawa get their 2026 Synergy Hair Netball League (SHNL) campaign underway against the Southern Blast in Wellington on Sunday.
Lining up for her second season of SHNL with Manawa, Tainui-Takerei, 19, has had a whirlwind recent few months, including becoming a training partner with sister team Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse and delivering an accomplished outing when making her senior debut for the Pulse in Round 1 of the ANZ Premiership.
“It has been a kind of hectic start to the season,” she said. “There’s definitely been some amazing opportunities that I’ve had in these last couple of months for which I’m very grateful. Now I’m putting my head down and looking to the next which is the SHNL season.
“This is another opportunity to go out and show all the learnings I’ve had throughout the season. I’m excited to get out on court, hopefully get some good game time and see what we can do.
“Obviously, my ultimate goal is to push for higher honours but until then I’ll just keep my head down, continue pushing and working hard.”
A member of the Howick College team which won the NZ Secondary Schools Champs in 2024, Tainui-Takerei is also a former New Zealand Secondary School and Aotearoa Māori Secondary School representative.
In a brave call, Tainui-Takerei, predominantly a wing attack, made the move from her home in Auckland straight out of school to head to Wellington with the express purpose of enhancing her netball pedigree. University was also part of the plan, where she juggles her sporting ambitions with delving into the books and the second year of a Bachelor of Health degree.
“The opportunity came up to come down here and when they (Netball Central) asked me, I was quite happy about it and took the opportunity with two hands and it’s certainly been an eventful ride,” she said.
“I knew I had to make the change if I wanted to go on to better and bigger things. And I do love it here, love the place, love the girls and I’ve created some really awesome friendships down here as well.
“I thought this was a good next step for my netball journey and it’s taken me to where I am right now.
“I had heard good things about the training environment, the coaching and different style as well. They definitely play a different style here compared to Auckland but I think it’s something I fit into and which I love.”
Winners of five titles since the inception of the SHNL in 2016, Manawa have been the most successful team during that time and remain determined to build on their legacy. With the league being trimmed to a brutal one full round shoot-out there’s very little wriggle room for the contenders.
“We know the season’s quite short, we’ve only got five games, so we have no time to muck around. We need to go out with a bang and start off strong this weekend against the Blast and we’re ready to go,” Tainui-Takerei said.
“We’ve got a bit of a new crew this year, a lot of young ones but we’ve been working really hard throughout the pre-season and it’s really looking exciting.”