THEN . . .
Daneka Tuineau (nee Wipiiti) shot to fame when she was named in the Silver Ferns squad for the 2002 Commonwealth Games as a 19-year-old.
The mercurial 1.94m shooter, who was dropped from the national side the following year, had made her debut for the Western Flyers as a 15-year-old and later transferred to the Northern Force.
She arrived in the South in 2007 to play for the Sting under coach Robyn Broughton and stayed on when the Sting merged with the Otago Rebels to form the Steel.
Tuineau led the attack end for the Steel during the early seasons of the now defunct ANZ Championship and regained her spot in the national side in 2008.
She was part of the Silver Ferns squad which won gold at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. It was an upgrade on the silver she won with the team eight years earlier.
She also helped the Steel reach the ANZ Championship semifinals in 2010. Tuineau put her netball career on hold at the end of the 2011 season so she could join her husband, former Highlanders lock Joe Tuineau, in France following the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Joe was part of the Tongan squad.
But before Daneka left the country she made an impact in another code — basketball.
She made the transition from goal attack to centre and helped the Otago Gold Rush claim the Women’s Basketball Championship with a dominant effort in the final.
She banged in 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help Otago dispatch Nelson 72-57.
Tuineau noted afterwards there was a big difference between the pressure cooker of international netball and playing in the WBC in front of mostly family and friends.
"The girls are just great ballers and I’m just lucky the door opened for me and allowed me to come in and be part of it," she told the Otago Daily Times at the time.
"I’m loving playing basketball and doing something a little bit different."
But netball was her first love and Tuineau looks back on her stint in the South very fondly.
"I watch netball now and I probably wouldn’t know anybody. Even the competition has changed," she said.
"But I still keep in contact with Wendy [Frew] and those girls. I miss it. I miss the social side of it.
"There are so many memories. I remember when it was just the Sting days and the atmosphere there.
"If you haven’t played in Southland you can’t really know what it is like. To go down and be part of the community and the team was a really good experience."
NOW . . .
Six years after leaving New Zealand, Tuineau is kind of back where she left off — learning how to play basketball again. The 34-year-old is still living in France and has no immediate plans to return to New Zealand as long as the "old boy" keeps going.
Joe is in his third season with Dax and "we are hoping the old boy has a few more years left in him", she joked.
Tuineau has basically been a fulltime mother to Kilani-Mae (7) and Giovanni (3) while the couple have been in France.
But with both children now at school — children start school aged 3 in France — she has been able to resume her sporting career and plays basketball for Orthez.
The team started its season with five consecutive wins and Tuineau was enjoying being part of a team again.
"We’ve done really well for the start of the season."
"Orthez seem to pull in the crowds and the community is behind them, so it does remind me of when I was down in Southland."
"They know I played netball back in the day and they know I can shoot.
"But I’m still learning. I actually have to run the full length of the court, learn the systems and plays. It is a bit different for me but I’m getting there."
Tuineau gets "some pocket money" for playing.
"That’s quite nice. But the team is not based here in Dax. It is about a 35-minute drive out of town."
She trains three times a week which can be a bit of "juggling act". And there are also away games and Joe’s schedule to consider. Whether she continues next season or not is still up in the air.
"If I feel like at the end of the season I can go again then I’ll go again. If I can’t then I’ll step back and I can tick it off the bucket list I suppose."
The Tuineaus have moved around since shifting to France. Joe started off at Montpellier before moving to Aix-en Provence and then Lyon for two seasons.
"We’ve been all over the place," she said, adding her French was "terrible".
"I can definitely order a coffee or my lunch but that is pretty much as far as I go."
Giovanni was born in Lyon and the family enjoy living in Europe.
"I love it. The lifestyle over here is unreal. People think you live the life of a Wag [wives and girlfriends] but it is not that.
"It is just that living over here is much easier. The healthcare is awesome over here for the kids. The schooling is amazing.
"I think we will try and extend our stay here as much as we can and come home when the time is right."
Joe has family in Auckland and Daneka has two sisters in Taranaki.
