GIANTS Netball was extremely lucky to have New Zealand Silver Ferns great Casey Kopua join them for their first official day of the Trans-Tasman Challenge.
Kopua played 112 games for the Silver Ferns and finished off her fantastic career with a gold medal and player of the match performance in the 2019 World Cup Final when the Ferns beat the Diamonds by just one goal.
GIANTS Netball Coach Julie Fitzgerald coached Kopua during her two years at the helm of the Waikaito Bay of Plenty Magic in the then ANZ Championship League and called on the world-class defender to pay the group a visit during the trip.
Kopua took the team for a session during Friday morning’s captain’s run, before sitting on the team bench for their game against the Northern Stars.
GIANTS defender Sam Poolman said it was an incredible opportunity to learn from one of the best defenders in the world.
“To be able to pick her brain and learn how she developed her game through drills was an awesome experience,” she said.
“A Kiwi helping an Aussie team out – once again it shows the impact that Julie (Fitzgerald) has with the teams she coaches.
“Kiwi’s strength is offline defence compared to our Aussie style which is more a one-on-one style defence, so that’s what the session’s focus was.
During the morning session, Kopua worked through offline defence through some small group drills before progressing to some full court scenarios.
Kopu then sat on the team bench for the match against the Stars and was the lead in terms of defensive feedback.
“To have Casey on the bench was pretty special,” said Poolman.
“We were able to put into action what we learnt that day and receive timely feedback and also on how we can continue to build on our learnings over the pre-season.”
The GIANTS will next take on the Northern Mystics on Saturday afternoon (12pm AEST).
