Still in the infancy of her trans-Tasman league netball career, powerhouse teenage defender Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick has ticked all the right boxes so far for Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic.
While it is no certainty the 1.88m baby of the team will make the starting line-up for Magic against Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane on Monday, Tone-Fitzpatrick, 18, has left no doubts about her enormous potential.
In contrast to her strapping stature at 1.88m tall, Tone-Fitzpatrick is something of a gentle giant... humble, softly spoken and slightly surprised at the speed of her progress.
"To be honest, I don't think anyone knew who I was at the start. I'm just very glad that the coaches had the confidence to put me out there on court," she said.
"Having the likes of Casey Williams and Peta Scholz in front of you makes the job a whole lot easier and I have really enjoyed my time out there."
Tone-Fitzpatrick has made the starting line-up for Magic's last two outings against Melbourne Vixens and West Coast Fever. Both produced prized wins over Australian opponents, the latter a rugged and battling last gasp one-goal win in Perth on Monday.
From the custodian's position of goalkeeper, Tone-Fitzpatrick played a strong hand in keeping the Magic in the game with a string of timely intercepts and rebounds.
The preparation for their tough upcoming challenge against Firebirds couldn't have been better.
"It gave us another opportunity to adjust to the Aussie style of play and was a bit of a wake-up call for us in terms of our preparation for Firebirds," Tone-Fitzpatrick said.
"It's a tough ask coming up against any Aussie team but I'm very confident in the game plan our coaches have set in place. If we do our job, I definitely think we have the calibre of players to put it out there on court and give them a good game."
A former national secondary school representative and current New Zealand under-21 squad member, Tone-Fitzpatrick had her first involvement in the trans-Tasman competition last year with Northern Mystics while still a schoolgirl.
Seeing only one quarter of action during that time, Tone-Fitzpatrick was just happy to be involved and had no complaints with the Auckland franchise when they did not chase her signature this year.
Being in the same team as defensive diva Casey Williams has more than compensated.
"I count myself very lucky that I've been given the opportunity to even be in the same team as her let alone being able to play with her," the budding defender said. "I'm really enjoying being with Magic and I just want to make the most of any chance I have to play with her and to learn from the best in the world."
The level-headed Tone-Fitzpatrick has a maturity beyond her years, remaining firmly grounded as she shuffles fulltime study in the first year of a law degree with the far from normal life of a semi-professional netballer.
Tone-Fitzpatrick's family has played a key role behind the scenes with her parents going the extra mile, especially in providing the taxi service which has notched up multiple return commutes between Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga to get Tone-Fitzpatrick to training.
With restricted time to return home and then get to Brisbane for their next match, Magic opted instead to stay and prepare in Perth.
Sporting their share of bumps and bruises after the tough Fever clash, the second-placed Magic have had four quality training days and head to Brisbane on Sunday for the top-of-the-table clash.
