A lively presence in the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse netball environment, powerful shooter Tiana Metuarau is preparing to launch the next phase of her career following a year of personal achievements.

Age has never been a barrier for the inventive, strongly-built playmaker, who first burst onto the scene as a replacement player for the Pulse in 2017 as a 16-year-old schoolgirl and is now something of a seasoned pro as she prepares for her sixth ANZ Premiership season.

Back with the Pulse this season, Metuarau can look back on an eventful 12 months which meant leaving home in search of new opportunities and ended with a strong dose of positivity. A regular starter for the Steel in 2021, Metuarau was a key cog and delivered an emphatic season for the southerners where her abundant skillset was a shining light.

``Anyone who’s sat on the bench would have understood my predicament,’’ she said.

``Renee (Savai’inaea) and I moved away together and court time was all we really needed. In order to improve in ANZ, you need game time just to get a feel of things and be able to continuously perform consistently week-in week-out.

``So, it was just great to get court time and it also helped with things like Silver Ferns camps. I didn’t like being away from home, so being able to get over my anxiety surrounding homesickness issues, was also a maturity thing but just to actually live away from my family was really important.

``That was one of the hardest and biggest barriers for me so I’m glad I’ve overcome it now.’’

Experienced, but still just 21 years of age, Metuarau, who bubbles with confidence and energy, has extra responsibility this year after being anointed co-captain of the Pulse along with Kelly Jury. But there is no sense of that being a burden.

``It’s really fun,’’ Metuarau said. ``Kelly probably does all the majority of the things that you can possibly have on lock when you’re the captain and I just kind of do the yelling and energising side of things.

``I don’t really see my age as being a barrier and I feel like we’re all on the same level as a team. We all respect each other, so it’s quite seamless and I feel like there’s also just that trust amongst the group.

``They trust Kells (Jury) and I to lead and we’ve got Maddy (Gordon) and Whitney (Souness) who are part of our mana group as well, so everything’s going really well and, I think, with that youth, comes just the ability to switch on and off…..when it’s time to have fun and also know when it’s time to get the job done.’’

Jury describes herself as the ``admin man’’ and Metuarau as the ``hype man.’’

Significant milestones have played their part and provided Metuarau the perfect leg-up to start the new season.

``I turned 21 on the day we played Australia (Quad Series). We obviously didn’t win but I got my first test against Australia, got to be back in England where I was born, and I had a few of my really good friends there, like Mila (Reuelu-Buchanan) and Kells,’’ she said.

``Prior to my move down south, I never really thought I’d be able to go away with the team (Silver Ferns) because being away from my family just seemed so hard. But it was great and I had a ton of fun and we were gone for nearly a month, so it’s been fantastic to overcome all that side of things.’’
 


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