Former Silver Fern Temalisi Fakahokotau has made a surprise move by joining the Saracens Mavericks for the remainder of the United Kingdom's Vitality Netball Superleague season.
Temalisi Fakahokotau Photo: PHOTOSPORT
She's been named as a replacement defensive player with 10 rounds still to be played in the regular season.
The 27-year-old signed with the Pulse for the 2022 ANZ Premiership after moving from the Magic at the end of last year.
But in January Fakahokotau announced she would be taking a break from netball for the ANZ Premiership season to spend more time with family and work on opportunities outside of netball.
The former international said the opportunity to play in the UK was one she didn't want to miss out on.
Fakahokotau said she had been in contact with Mavericks head coach Kat Ratnapala for a couple of years and the timing hadn't been right until now.
"She hit me up about three or four weeks ago, I'd just moved back to Auckland - she messaged me out of nowhere actually which I wasn't expecting - and it's pretty much gone pretty quickly from there," Fakahokotau said.
Ratnapala said she had been hoping to get Fakahokotau over to England for a while.
"This time, the timings suited and both parties are looking forward to getting her back onto court again," Ratnapala said.
Temalisi Fakahokotau playing for the Tactix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Fakahokotau arrived in the UK on Monday and said she was relishing the challenge after turning her goal into a reality.
"I'm excited to be here ...playing over on this side has always been a goal of mine, to come over and play in this league ...I'm very blessed and grateful to be given this opportunity.
"I've been to one full session and then another session yesterday ...I'm just trying to gradually make my way back into netball after taking a couple of months off but the team really does look exciting," Fakahokotau said.
In 2018 the tenacious defender had a stand out ANZ Premiership campaign with the Tactix, topping all the main defensive stats but later that year ruptured her ACL at a Silver Ferns' training camp.
The 22 Test Silver Fern went through a lengthy period of rehabilitation but struggled to get back to the same fitness levels she did before the injury and hasn't put on the black dress since 2018.
Fakahokotau said she would love to represent the Silver Ferns again but isn't putting any pressure on herself.
"Probably the best moment that I've had throughout my netball career was probably my first season which was back in 2014 with the Mystics. I had made the Silver Ferns and the moment I remember is my debut for Ferns and I was named in the starting line-up so that was pretty special for me," she added.
"It's definitely an honour to put on a dress for your country and represent your homeland."
Silver Ferns defender Temalisi Fakahokotau competing for the ball Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2017 www.photosport.nz
"I don't know what the future holds, I'm in a place where I'm exploring what life is outside of netball, exploring this side of the world to see what netball looks like here but if I get the call then I 100 percent would love to be back there but I'm just going with the flow."
She's hoping to bring her own style to the Vitality Netball Superleague, as well as learning what the UK game has to offer.
"The league here is exciting and is growing so hopefully it does bring excitement and that players know that they can come across the world and also play in a high-performance league over here too.
"In New Zealand, things have picked up tremendously over there so the game is a lot faster now," she said.
"There's a lot of flair a lot of excitement and a lot of young guns coming through the game now back home which is great for netball, but the standard of netball has increased as well in New Zealand which is great internationally too."
Fakahokotau said she was settling in quickly and already knows a couple of her new team-mates.
"I know Kadeen [Corbin] previously from New Zealand when she had come over to play in Christchurch and we're also quite close a well so she was another factor in why I wanted to play for the Mavericks - and obviously knowing Sasha [Corbin] too."
The Mavericks are in fourth place in the Vitality Netball Superleague table, just inside the play-offs on goal difference ahead of Surrey Storm.