World Cup veteran wants to be on court when it matters most

Phoenix Karaka of New Zealand (centre) celebrates after defeating England at the conclusion of the Bronze medal match between New Zealand and England on Day 10 of the XXII Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, Sunday, August 7, 2022. (AAP Image/James Ross / www.photosport.nz)
Photo: JAMES ROSS

Phoenix Karaka has been a quiet champion.

Now she’s finding her voice thanks to her younger team mates.

Karaka will attend her third Netball World Cup next month with a determination to be on court when it matters the most.

The defender has a gold medal from the 2019 World Cup and a silver from the 2015 showpiece event but she has never played in a World Cup final.

For years Karaka bided her time behind some of the legends of New Zealand netball. She watched team mates Casey Kopua and Katrina Rore and wondered “am I good enough”.

In South Africa she wants to show she is.

“Not saying that because they’ve gone I’ve gained confidence, I think just within myself I’ve gained confidence with whoever’s here.

“I’d love to take that position as goal defender with both hands and have the opportunity to play in the final or in those last few games as a starting GD.

“I feel like I’m in a better place. I’m confident about my game and how I’m playing. If that means that someone else is better than me on the day I’ve just got to take it on the chin.

“We’ve got Jane [Watson] who’s shorter than me but she is just very deceptive. And then you’ve got Kelly [Jury] who is a whole foot taller than me, but I feel comfortable and I feel confident that I bring something different.”

Phoenix Karaka and fellow Silver Ferns with the 2019 Netball World Cup trophy.
Photo: Photosport

Over the years Karaka has come to realise it is not just the seven players on the court when the final whistle blows that can take credit for a team’s success in a tournament.

In the past she has been “shy” about her World Cup medals because she was a bench player.

“Now I’m like, no, I’ve helped that team get there. I played in those games leading up so it’s about the collective. It’s about what you bring to help actually those who are playing in the final, but the end goal for me is to be at least on the court [in the final].”

The arrival of newer team mates in the squad has been eye-opening and motivating for Karaka.

“The younger ones are very confident in themselves and even though sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I could never do that’, I’ve started to be like, okay, I need to be more confident in myself.

“If these players think, you know, they’re here for a reason, I’m obviously here and I’ve been here for three World Cups… yeah, I think I kind of gained some self confidence from the younger generation.”

A confident clear communicator

At an early training session in the Auckland pre-World Cup camp the Silver Ferns are learning a move that involves shapes and is so fresh to their repertoire that it can’t be filmed by the media.

A couple of coaches are issuing instructions and demonstrating with arm movements.

Karaka is taking it all in. She then repeats and relays the instructions a couple of times to her team mates, making sure they understand.

The 29-year-old is not officially part of the Silver Ferns leadership group but she is a leader.

“I’m not outspoken but if I don’t understand something I will try and really get to understand what it is that we’re trying to get across to the team so that when I am relaying things to other players who don’t know, I’ve got the right message.

“I think it’s also the only way that we’re gonna be on the same page as if we actually talk it out and if we know that we’re saying the same things, there might be different language but we’re on the same pathway of what we’re trying to achieve, then we know we’re gonna be successful.

Phoenix Karaka at a training session in Auckland ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

“I think that’s the beauty of being able to learn something together is that we can grow in that space together and hopefully we advance in that space together as a team.”

Stepping out of the shadow of Kopua, Rore and Leana de Bruin means filling the void too.

“There was a lot of leadership on their shoulders so now I think I’ve had to take those reins in the defensive end.”

With six players attending their first world cup and five their second, Karaka says the Silver Ferns aren’t making “drastic changes” to the way they approach the game.

“I think the intensity of what we’re trying to achieve is huge and just having something else because we’re always known for the space marking and trying to be creative.

“When you watch Silver Ferns in the defence is very, not slow, but it’s really calculative. So I think it’s just a different intensity and a different way of thinking how we can better ourselves in those spaces.

“With the new kind of generation of players that we have this will fit us perfectly. Because we do have the base fitness, we’ve got the engines in the middle, like [coach Dame Noeline Taurua] has been saying, and so we can cover ourselves and we can cover each other.”

Players like Casey Kopua had been ahead of Phoenix Karaka in the Silver Ferns at previous World Cups.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Building a bond

Karaka barely remembers what the build-up to her first World Cup nine years ago was like.

She does recall mud, mangroves and a team physio too short to complete the challenge that the team had been set by the Navy and then coach Waimarama Taumaunu.

A memo to to bring a sleeping bag and beanie to this year’s training camp in Auckland had Karaka and her team mates on edge. The memory of a tough 2019 camp in Australia with Taurua has Karaka expecting more of the same when they return the Sunshine Coast after the Auckland camp is completed.

The Silver Ferns spend days and days on court working on connections and combinations with defending the world title in mind.

They also spend hours in each others company off court. They become each other’s second family.

Rugby player Patrick Tuipulotu with is partner Phoenix Karaka.
Photo: Anthony Au-Yeung

Karaka’s family won’t travel to South Africa for the World Cup, just like they didn’t travel to England in 2019.

“For me, it’s purely that I’m not worrying about anyone. Are they okay? Do they need anything? Are they lost or anything like that?

“So I don’t mind, I think it’s more just this time around having a daughter who’s not coming is that time difference and making sure that I’m able to connect with my family back home.”

Karaka is not the only mother in the team so a number of her team mates will understand her desire to keep tabs on what is happening in New Zealand while they are overseas.

Just like she understands not every team mate is just like her.

“I think one thing that I’ve learned from the Mystics environment over the past couple of years is just taking people as they are.

“Whether they’re different, a little bit odd, It doesn’t matter because that actually contributes to the team.

“For example, Maddy [Gordon] is very quiet off court, but you see her on court and she does her job and she’s explosive and she gets ball, but she comes out when she needs to and I think that’s nice that we have an environment where people can just be themselves. If you’re not a talker, that’s fine.

“I think we’ve kind of nailed that on the head in terms of everyone’s bringing something different and that’s okay and we’re a lot more comfortable with those kinds of things.”

Karaka knows winning another World Cup won’t be a comfortable journey but she is now more confident that she will contribute whatever the outcome.