Court smarts

Netball legends come out of retirement with something to pass on.

- BY RUSSELL BROWN

Given the success of Pango Productions’ three seasons of Match Fit - in which former rugby and league legends were reunited and challenged to get fit enough for a competitive match - extending the franchise was a logical step. But it’s striking how different Game On, the netball version, is to its predecessors.

While Match Fit found a few former players not in a good place physically or mentally, and most with a few extra kilos on board, the former Silver Ferns - Irene van Dyk, Temepara Bailey, Adine Wilson, Joline Johansson, Casey Kopua and Linda Vagana - are in comparatively good shape in Game On. Wilson (who got through melanoma and a broken neck in her playing days) frets about her nagging achilles, but they're all ready to at least take the first test.