Newcomer Martina Salmon got more than she bargained for when making her debut for Central Manawa in the Synergy Hair Netball League and is now primed for a repeat dose in Round 2.
The willowy 1.9m Auckland born but Brisbane-raised shooter got the complete netball experience when contributing a handy 26 goals in her Manawa debut. Shortly after, she was providing cover on the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse bench for their match against the Stars.
The following day, she was sitting on the bench for an injury-depleted Southern Steel, making her debut for the southerners with a late appearance in their match against the Tactix.
With shooter Tiana Metuarau still out of action, the Pulse and Manawa are having to juggle their shooting options and for Salmon, it will be a similar scenario this weekend.
She will sit on the Pulse bench for their match against the Magic in Wellington on Saturday before taking her place in the Manawa team for the clash against Waikato Bay of Plenty at the same venue. Then it is off to the deep south where Salmon will once again add cover for the Steel in their showdown against the Mystics in Invercargill on Monday.
"It's been very busy but very enjoyable and I'm grateful for the opportunities," Salmon said. "I'm loving it, soaking up everything I can and just embracing it all."
Moving to Brisbane as a two-year-old, Salmon played her netball out of Logan City in her formative years but always had a hankering to play on this side of the Tasman and is no stranger to New Zealand.
As an 18-year-old, she was a training partner for the Magic, ironically making her debut against the Pulse, in Porirua in 2022, where she now lives and works after marrying Porirua local Klein Salmon. She was formerly Martina Reekers.
She has also been a training partner for the Sunshine Coast Lightning team in the Australian Super league.
In her short time with Manawa, Salmon, who is half Samoan, quarter Tongan and quarter Dutch, is loving the environment and Wellington.
"I find the netball here, and culture-wise, very different from Australia but I love it and feel the best part of it all….is the girls, and being able to be around my people," she said.
Predominantly a goal shoot, Salmon wants to become more versatile and is slowly adding goal attack to her repertoire but just getting back into the groove after a year away is her primary focus.
"Honestly, my goals this year are just to have fun and enjoy netball," she said. "I had the year off last year, so just being back on court this year is massive for me and the whole point is, if you love it, you enjoy playing it and that's all that matters."
Leading for much of the match, Manawa were overtaken by a fast-finishing Comets in their season-opener, and are out to make amends against Waikato Bay of Plenty on Saturday."
"We were definitely disappointed with that result but we haven't dropped our heads at all," Salmon said. "We're going to keep rising up, look at our weaknesses from that game, improve on it and lift from here.
"We've got a talented team and we're pumped up to achieve a better result this weekend."