The memories
Lauren Piebenga can still recall the spot where Te Paea Selby-Rickit slotted the buzzer-beater.
Time was up on the clock, but a penalty shot gave Selby-Rickit the chance to be Otago’s hero.
From deep on the baseline, the goal shoot hoped for the best as she launched the ball towards the hoop. It found its mark, sealing a dramatic 54-53 win over Hamilton at the 2013 national championships.
Olivia Bates could barely watch from the sideline, where the shooter spent the tournament after fracturing a bone in her ankle during their first game, and Piebenga had a similar reaction.
It was not much better on the court, and the star of the show even admitted her nerves did not hold up.
"You have to fake it until you make it as a shooter, but I was definitely losing the plot a little bit, especially at the end there," Selby-Rickit told the Otago Daily Times after the final whistle.
Who can blame her after a frantic final five minutes with several lead changes and the game tightening?
Centre Miaana Walden (now Patene) recalled throwing the ball away thinking she had "blown our chances".
Luckily, she picked up a crucial turnover in the dying seconds — which fellow midcourter Sophie Napper (now McCormick) remembers bounced off Walden’s head — and wing attack Gina Crampton banged it down to Selby-Rickit.
"I still remember that feeling of sheer relief and excitement," Walden said.
Defender Rebecca Purvis also looked back fondly at the "absolute craziness" of the final few minutes.
Piebenga had similar memories, watching her team win a second consecutive national title for the first time, and on their home court in Dunedin.
To make the occasion more special, they were the last Otago side to win the title, when the centre rebranded as Dunedin the following year.
"I think if it had gone to extra time, we might’ve been in a bit of trouble," Piebenga said.
She reminisced about the "very tight unit", who she coached through under-21 campaigns, where they also won two national titles, and their determination.
"We were definitely underdogs going in.
"We’d won the previous year as well in Tauranga, so to back it up in Dunedin wasn’t necessarily expected.
"We were a really young team in the big scheme of things in what was NPC then.
"But they were just a team that took opportunities and were really dogged on defence, worked really hard for each other and had beautiful finishing shooters within the team."
It speaks to the calibre of players that five of them — Bates, Selby-Rickit, Gina Crampton, Kate Shearer and Storm Purvis — plus Shannon Saunders, who was called into the Silver Ferns and did not play in the campaign, played for the Southern Steel.
Crampton, Selby-Rickit, Purvis and Saunders represented the Silver Ferns as well.
"‘I guess having that calibre of player come to Dunedin all at once ... it was certainly a bit of a luxury," Piebenga said.
Their ability to gel as a team unit on and off the court was a feature, she said.
"They were an amazing bunch in terms of individuals who certainly made the most of student life, but also balanced high performance sport.
"I guess their passion for the game and their determination to succeed as players really shone through, right through those campaigns that we managed to win titles."
That close-knit feeling is a testament to their character and Piebenga was still in touch with many today.
Walden, who loved seeing her friends on the world stage, also stayed in touch.
"I am still great friends with a lot of the team.
"I get so excited to watch Gina and Te Paea playing for the Silver Ferns, as well as Stormy in the commentators’ box."
"It was an honour to play with women I'd played with since I was 13, like Gina and Teeps, and then see them to go on and be named Silver Ferns."
Where are they now?
Te Paea Selby-Rickit
Her calm shot has led to a flourishing domestic and international career for Selby-Rickit. She played nine seasons for the Steel, alongside sister Te Huinga Reo, before moving to the Mainland Tactix — where she brought up her 150th domestic game this season — in 2020. Selby-Rickit has earned 64 caps for the Silver Ferns, including winning the 2019 Netball World Cup and bronze at the Commonwealth Games last year. Made herself unavailable for the remaining international season following the World Cup in South Africa.
Kate Shearer
Shearer (now Grant) came to an early crossroads, with a decision between elite netball and a career in medicine. Medicine eventually won.
"I remember thinking ‘you’re only an injury away from it all ending’, whereas medicine was a career for life. It was a really tough choice."
She is now a GP registrar, but was called into the Tactix in 2021 as a replacement, debuting alongside former Otago shooting partner Selby-Rickit. Netball is still a big part of her life, and she recently played for Christchurch Red, who were runners-up at the national championships. Her children, Arthur and Madeleine, watched from the sidelines.
Olivia Bates
Bates answered the Steel’s SOS call following the infamous van crash in 2017 and stepped up from the national netball league. Known for her court craft, Bates’ calm presence helped the Steel and led to a fulltime ANZ Premiership contract in 2018, when they won back-to-back titles. Previously worked as a development officer for Netball South and Dunedin Netball. Now a teacher at Tahuna Intermediate and a recent new mother.
Bridget Thayer
Thayer is a familiar face on the Dunedin netball scene. The shooter has been a key cog for University-Albion, who won Dunedin’s premier club title in August. She had a stint as an import in Singapore and played for Southern in 2016 when they won the inaugural national league. Netball is not the only sport Thayer has excelled in, having previously been part of the Otago Sparks cricket squad and the New Zealand fistball team who played at the World Games last year. Now works for Dunedin Netball as competitions co-ordinator.
Gina Crampton
Crampton has stamped herself as one of New Zealand’s best wing attacks. After debuting for the Steel in 2012, she played 98 games for the southern franchise before joining the Northern Stars in 2021, bringing up 147 domestic games. She debuted for the Silver Ferns in 2016, playing 70 tests, and was part of the 2019 World Cup-winning team. She became the Silver Ferns’ 28th captain in 2021, leading them to bronze at the Commonwealth Games last year, and was vice-captain at the recent World Cup. Crampton is taking a sabbatical from all netball next season, heading to the United States to join her partner, former Otago rugby player Fa’asiu Fuatai, who plays professionally in New York.
Shannon Francois
If there is a reason to miss your province's national campaign, being called into the Silver Ferns is a pretty good one. Francois (now Saunders) made her international debut against Australia in 2013. The 90-cap Silver Fern was part of the 2019 World Cup team. Alongside international duties, Saunders has been a Steel stalwart since 2012, notching up more than 150 games across the ANZ Championship and Premiership. She took a break from the sport this year as she welcomed her first child, but has committed to the Steel for next season. Previously worked as a locum at pharmacies throughout Dunedin.
Following netball, Napper (now McCormick) returned to athletics, where she was part of the Otago 4x400m relay teams that won silver at track and field national championships in 2019 and 2020. She also won bronze in the senior women’s 400m at the same events. She now lives in Pisa Moorings with her husband, who is the principal at Cromwell Primary School, and their 7-month-old son, Mac. McCormick previously worked as an intermediate teacher and a specialist teacher for blind and low vision pupils. She now works as a sales executive for Lion Breweries across Central Otago.
Miaana Walden
Walden (now Patene) moved back to New Plymouth in 2015 to pursue a legal career, working as a litigation and commercial lawyer for about eight years. She continued her netball career back home, playing club and provincial netball in Taranaki until 2021, when she moved to Otaki with her husband to complete a one-year immersion Te Reo Māoricourse. They have two children under 2 — "so life is certainly busy and amazing at the same time" — Tahurangi, 23 months, and Ani, 3 months. She is now self-employed, doing contract business advisory work for kaupapa Māoriorganisations and governance roles that fit around her family commitments.
Rebecca Purvis
Purvis stepped back from netball after rupturing her Achilles in 2014. But her career took off, being awarded a fullbright scholarship for her masters in genetic counselling in Philadelphia. She moved to Melbourne in 2017, working at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and is now a certified clinical and academic genetic counsellor, specialising in hereditary cancer and neurotogenics. She is completing her PhD fulltime at the University of Melbourne, focusing on the implementation of more personalised cancer risk assessment. After returning to premier and regional netball in Melbourne, and coaching a premier club for four years, Purvis switched codes to indoor beach volleyball, playing competitively for the Brunswick CitySide Stingers.
Renaye Flockton
Flockton continued playing representative netball for Otago and club netball for College in Dunedin. But it was not the only sporting arena in which she starred. Flockton was also a talented rugby player, suiting up for the Otago Spirit, and she played sevens for Otago for several seasons. Now based in North Otago with her family and partner, former Highlanders and Kobe Steelers first five Hayden Parker.
Storm Purvis
Purvis spent five season at the Steel before returning to Auckland, playing for the Mystics (2017-18) and Stars (2019-20). The defender, who earned two caps for the Silver Ferns, played 99 domestic games before retiring in 2020, aged 27, due to injury woes. But 643 days after her last game, Purvis returned for a "one-off" game for the Stars last season, as part of the Covid-19 replacement player pool, finally earning that elusive 100th cap. She is never far from the court, as a presenter for Sky Sport and The Crowd Goes Wild. Expecting her first child in January.
Celina Ledgard
We have not been able to track Ledgard down. Social media suggest she spent time overseas, now works in medicine and is still active, completing the Spring Challenge last year.
OTAGO
2013 squad
Olivia Bates, Gina Crampton, Renaye Flockton, Shannon Francois*, Celina Ledgard, Sophie Napper, Storm Purvis, Rebecca Purvis, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Kate Shearer, Bridget Thayer, Miaana Walden. Coach: Lauren Piebenga.
* Francois (now Saunders) was called into the Silver Ferns and did not play for Otago.
