The Silver Ferns midcourter has been named sole captain of the Southern Steel for the ANZ Premiership season after sharing the role with Kate Heffernan - who has joined the Adelaide Thunderbirds - last season.
The 28-year-old is back for her second season with the franchise after moving south from the Mainland Tactix in 2025.
‘‘It makes me feel old because I actually am the oldest in the team and the running joke at the moment is that I’m acting my age,” Poi said.
‘‘On a serious note, it is an amazing opportunity to lead the girls and try and do whatever I can for the team to get the best of out of our team and ideally win a premiership.’’
Having previously captained the Tactix and been part of various leadership groups, Poi relished the chance to push her own development through the role.
‘‘It challenges me in a way to build relationships across the whole organisation.
‘‘In the captaincy role you have to navigate relationships within the players and management side but also further afield like Netball South and the staff, along with the wider community.
‘‘That actually really puts me out of my comfort zone at times and it’s one part that excites me to grow and learn in that area.’’
Poi has high expectations for the 2026 season, which gets under way on April 11.
‘‘Obviously, the end goal is we want to bring that premiership back down south as it has been a few years since it has been here.
‘‘But if you strip it back even further, it comes down to enjoying our netball and putting consistent performances out on court that we are proud of.
‘‘We don’t want to walk off the court thinking ‘we should have done that’ or ‘we could have done this’ - we actually want to come off happy with how we have performed.’’
Georgia Heffernan makes the step up to vice-captain this season, while fellow shooter Aliyah Dunn also joins the
leadership group.
Coach Wendy Frew said Poi was a ‘‘true professional’’ on and off the court.
‘‘She is highly respected by the girls and the management team alike,” Frew said.
‘‘She puts in an incredible amount of work and trains the house down.
‘‘It’s a real honour to work with her and for her to be leading the 2026 Steel team.’’
The Steel play the Northern Stars and the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in their opening preseason games in Otaki tomorrow.
They then meet the Northern Mystics on Sunday.
