Central Manawa won’t lack for enthusiasm when they finally get their Synergy Hair Netball League campaign underway against Waikato Bay of Plenty in Porirua on Sunday.
The spread of Covid-19 has had a major impact across all teams in the league with just one match played after two rounds of the nine-round competition. Manawa and Waikato Bay of Plenty are yet to get their first centre pass of the season away.
"They are bursting to be able to play and with everything we’ve been through, it has just given all of us a realisation that we’re very grateful to get to do what we love and any opportunity we get to play has to be savoured,’’ Manawa head coach Anna Andrews-Tasola said.
Manawa have had their share of positive Covid-19 cases but are now emerging on the other side with all players at least engaged in the return to play protocols. Some have a little way to go before being able to take the court but a fit and healthy squad of 12 is ready to go for the team’s opener.
With their Round 1 double-header cancelled, Manawa bought some time with a scheduled bye round last weekend which has proved fruitful.
"It was a blessing in disguise,’’ Andrews-Tasola said. "It’s given a little more time for all of us to recover and we’re now looking forward to hopefully less disruption for the rest of the season for all the teams.
"We want to see all the players out there competing. Everyone’s worked hard across the country, we all just want to go out there and put on a show with some great skilful netball.’’
With the points being shared, cancelled games are not being rescheduled which doesn’t leave much wriggle room for the rest of the season, each outing now holding extra significance.
"We have a goal and we want to win the league,’’ the coach said. "That means any opportunity we get to play we have to go out there to compete and to win.’’
Manawa have a strong track record in the league, which is a key component in strengthening Netball New Zealand’s performance pathway with new talent, winning the title three years in succession between 2017 and 2019 while finishing runners-up in the first edition in 2016. They failed to make the grand final for the first time, last year.
Manawa could come up against some familiar faces in Sunday’s clash with former team-mate Grace McLean and 2021 Pulse replacement player Ivana Rowland (both shooters) now plying their trade with the opposition.
"Because we don’t know who’s going to be in any of the team’s week-to-week, it’s really hard to do analysis against them, so we’ll be largely focussing on ourselves and our own game,’’ Andrews-Tasola said.
"What I would like to see from our team is to be able to compete for a full 60 minutes.
"We’re going to have to be mindful of that in regards to the return to play situation and well-being of athletes but being able to compete and put to good use all the things we’ve been working on over the last 10 weeks featuring out on court would be a great start.’’