Silver Fern Kate Heffernan hungry for another World Cup

Any questions about whether netball could keep Kate Heffernan have been answered with the 24-year-old saying she is committed to another World Cup cycle.

The Silver Ferns are preparing for the second Test against Australia tonight, hoping to bounce back from the opening test loss in the Constellation Cup.

Heffernan is likely to start again at wing defence. The unassuming midcourter is known for her speed off mark and the Silver Ferns coach describes her as having "a bit of mongrel".

The dual international played two T20 cricket matches in 2018 and could have easily been a star for New Zealand in a sport which is becoming more and more lucrative for top players.

"I'm committed to netball I'm super hungry after that World Cup. I want to do another cycle, I'd love to go to another Commonwealth Games and World Cup.

"The cricket thing it's always there in the back of my mind but at the moment I'm loving my netball and the opportunities I'm getting so going to keep doing that and see what happens in the next cycle," Heffernan said.

Haidee Tiffen was the White Ferns coach in 2018 and gave Heffernan her first international cap when she was just 18.

Tiffen said Heffernan was identified quite early.

"You always heard her name coming through from domestic coaches and age group coaches, as well as her sister Georgia's name," Tiffen said.

Twins Kate and Georgia both play for the Southern Steel and shooter Georgia is in the Silver Ferns development squad.

Tiffen said Heffernan brought a big point of difference in that she was a left-armer.

"We didn't have many left arm pace bowlers, I think she was the only one in the country and that point of difference was something that we really wanted to look at leading into a T20 World Cup and she was doing very well for Otago Sparks.

"We thought that we would give her a shot and she did really well in her debut. She got 1 for 14 off 4 against West Indies opening the bowling under lights in a T20.

"She showed us in that first game that she was able to perform at that level and we knew that we could continue to grow her."

Tiffen said she handled the pressure and the situation really well for an 18-year-old.

"I think growing up in that sporting family having the experience to draw upon from her Mum, having really good team-mates around her, being a dual athlete she was able to draw upon those experiences and she did very well."

Mother Annette Heffernan was a Silver Fern and part of the 1987 World Cup winning team.

Tiffen said Heffernan's capacity for learning impressed her.

"Really keen to learn, she worked hard, and you could see she was athletic in the field. She really worked hard on her fitness and that was again something that we really liked.

"And she was a really good team person, she had a great sense of humour. She connected well with all ages, she was good fun but you could tell she wanted to do well and she had that mindset that even at that young age about wanting to be better."

Tiffen always knew that Heffernan had a big decision to make at that time.

"She was always very open around her pursuit of both sports and unsure of which way she was heading and I certainly supported her in whatever choices she wanted to make and look at her now, I'm really proud of her."

Heffernan got her first professional netball contract with the Southern Steel in 2019 and that helped her decision to go down the netball track.

"I remember going to a Silver Ferns camp actually, Noeline allowed me to come in and have a look, it was just before she selected the team for the 2019 World Cup and Kate was there as an emerging player I guess.

"She had made up her mind by then to go down the netball route and she was already being noticed by the Silver Ferns coach."

Dame Noeline Taurua also talks about Heffernan's point of difference and in netball it's her arm span.

"That's why we sort of picked her up, it's the uniqueness in the midcourt because she's got the arm span, she's a defensive minded player, who's got height in the middle," Dame Noeline said.

"And if she's playing at centre, when you have a hard three foot mark like the Diamonds do, she's able to see ahead."

Growing up on a farm in west Otago, Dame Noeline said qualities from her upbringing came through.

"No fuss, low maintenance, work hard, both on and off the court, and the attention to detail is always meticulous.

"She's got a uniqueness I suppose as to how she plays and holds herself. I think she brings that through her experience in cricket but also the time that she's had whether in Steel and in here within the short time."

Tiffen believes if Heffernan had picked cricket she would have clocked up quite a few games for New Zealand by now.

"And again the fact she provided that point of different, when you're putting together a bowling unit you don't want it all the same. I have no doubt that she would have gone on and played a number of games for the White Ferns and had a great career," Tiffen said.

Heffernan said she was hungry after the hurt of the Silver Ferns fourth place at the recent World Cup, knowing that they weren't able to play to their full potential.

"That's what is so disappointing looking back I think we did have so much potential and while we lost Grace [Nweke] I don't think we can put it all down to that," Heffernan said.

"We didn't perform when it mattered I think there were just moments we didn't win the moment ...that's the most disappointing thing looking back I think."

As soon as Heffernan came off the court after their loss to Jamaica in the bronze medal match, she was already thinking about the next World Cup.

She said the players had worked extremely hard in the months leading up to Cape Town and it was a tough pill knowing all the planning that had gone into the four year cycle.

"But it does show what we need to do to be able to compete and get that gold medal. We're playing against the best in the world and to be the best in the world there's a lot of improvements we have to make and in the next couple of years we're going to work so hard."

Heffernan was named the midcourter of the World Cup in South Africa and is seen as a player who can take the next generation forward.

"It's pretty exciting to see the group of us coming through and really want to stick together and come back stronger in four years."

As to whether Heffernan could go back to cricket in the future Tiffen wouldn't put it past her.

"She's fit and I'm 100 percent sure she could come back if she keeps up her bowling at Silver Ferns camps, get the girls having some backyard cricket," laughed Tiffen.