Shooter Aliyah Dunn will be doing her bit to help get the Pulse over the line against the Steel in Invercargill. Photo: PhotoWellington
August 6, 2020
Shooter Aliyah Dunn doesn’t have any great fondness for playing in her home city but motivation won’t be lacking as Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse prepare to snap a lopsided ANZ Premiership netball record there this weekend.
Looking to rebound after suffering their first loss of the season against the Northern Mystics, the Pulse will meet the Southern Steel in Invercargill on Saturday, a place where they have never won since the inception of the league in 2017.
``It’s not a nice place to play when you’re on the opposition team,’’ was Dunn’s succinct summary of playing at ILT Stadium Southland which over the years has become something of a fortress for the southerners.
The super consistent Dunn has called Wellington home for the past three years since moving as a rookie from Invercargill to join the Pulse in 2018 and hasn’t looked back.
``I do consider Wellington home. I thoroughly enjoy it here and the Pulse has been a great environment,’’ she said.
``When I look back at old footage, I definitely think I’ve changed a lot, in terms of myself and my play. I’ve learnt heaps and tried to apply all those learnings into my game.’’
Apart from the odd high-five, the 20-year-old shows little emotion on-court and is happy to let her netballing talents do the talking.
In her debut season, the willowy finisher was the league’s second most accurate shooter at 90.8 percent, topping the poll in 2019 with a 92 percent return and leading the way again this season at 92 percent.
Dunn doesn’t get too caught up in the statistical side of the game, apart from the number of attempts she puts up each outing which is integral to the Pulse’s style of play.
``I like to know my number of attempts because we’re a shooting circle that does share the load and that’s important but I’m not statistically driven,’’ she said.
With the experienced Ameliaranne Ekenasio and her 2017 Netball World Youth Cup-winning team-mate Tiana Metuarau as shooting partners, Dunn couldn’t ask for better sidekicks.
``They’re both very knowledgeable goal attacks and they’ve both played goal shoot before, so they’re pretty good with helping me out,’’ she said.
``Sharing the load complements the style we’re trying to play, like trying to add more movement…..keeping the ball and players moving. That keeps the opposition guessing and makes it harder for them to double-team on one player.’’
Specialist shooting coaching, Central Manawa mentor Anna Andrews-Tasola has helped Dunn this year with her movement in the circle and different patterns to run as she adds new dimensions to her game.
Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie is happy to do the talking for her laconic shooter, who she believes will be seen a lot more at the highest level in the coming years.
``Both as a player and a person, we’ve seen really neat growth from her,’’ the coach said. ``Her confidence in terms of recognising that she brings a huge skill and that’s valued, has been massive. Her shooting has been great right from the start, she’s sustained that, and has changed her shot to basically adjust and adapt to the changing defence that she’s met.
``She’s a really quiet soul but she’s very smart and has made some massive impacts in our environment.’’
It is not glaringly obvious but there is plenty of inner belief in Dunn, who is something of a rarity in top-level sport with her quiet approach and demeanour.
``She’s just about prone she’s that laidback and that’s a real benefit when you’re a shooter because she’s so calm and doesn’t appear to get flapped and that’s pretty huge,’’ McCausland-Durie said.
There’s extra incentive for the Pulse to post a win with captain Katrina Rore set to notch her 200th combined elite level match and McCausland-Durie her 100th match as Pulse coach across the former trans-Tasman and current leagues. Rore has not missed a season since her debut in 2005.
The Pulse will return home to play the Tactix in Wellington on Monday.
Ends
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