Sheryl Scanlan keen to return to form

ROBYN EDIE/Southland Times

LIMBERING UP: Southern Steel veteran Sheryl Scanlan stretches her troublesome calf injury during a training run at Invercargill's Surrey Park yesterday.

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Sheryl Scanlan wants to forget about the anguish of 2009 and rediscover the kind of form that made her one of the top netball defenders in the world.

Last season, the 61-cap Silver Fern had a year to forget, with a troublesome calf injury limiting her ability out on the court. She was once again named in the Silver Fern squad, but only made a brief appearance in one home test against Australia and was omitted from the side's end-of-year tour to England and Jamaica.

Scanlan said 2009 had not been one of her better years in netball, but she was eager to turn things around with Steel this season.

"It was a bit of a rollercoaster last year," she smiled.

"With your career, whatever sport you play, you always have your ups and downs. This is a brand new year and a new season, though, and I'm just raring to go."

Scanlan's bid to hit the ground running with Steel this season took a turn for the worse late last year when she re-injured her calf, which has delayed her preseason preparations.

She only got back into running earlier this week and is not expected back on court until Steel's trip to Sydney for the preseason SOPA Cup early next month.

"I'm just trying to get my calf right," Scanlan said.

"I'm going to (Steel physio) Jenny Ferguson, once a week, trying to get stretches going. I'm just not going too hard at this stage. It's very frustrating. In the past, I haven't had any injuries before."

Scanlan said her injury was improving, but she was cautious about rushing herself back too early.

"I don't want to go through what I went through last year with my calf – trying to come back, then getting injured again ... It's feeling good at the moment but I don't want to push myself in case I injure it again. It's a patience game."

With the Silver Ferns heading to the Commonwealth Games in India in October, Scanlan said she still had plenty of desire to have a strong ANZ Championship with Steel and hopefully wear the black dress again.

"For me I want to play ANZ Championships and I really want to have a good season ...There's still a lot of things I want to achieve, so that makes me more motivated to stay and play. I've got a lot of unfinished business, but I will just take it one step at a time."

The 32-year-old acknowledged her playing career was beginning to draw a close, but was not making retirement plans just yet.

"Realistically, I don't have many years left. I'm just going to read how my body feels. As a person, you know your career is over when you've had enough and I'm not there yet."

- © Fairfax NZ News