Irene Van Dyk can't wait to weave more Magic

Outstanding shooter Irene van Dyk has been a class act since immigrating to New Zealand from South Africa 10 years ago. Now 37, and in the twilight of her career, she is still as enthusiastic as the day she arrived.

If it wasn't for the fading twang of a South African accent when she talks, it would be easy to think Irene van Dyk has been in New Zealand all her life.

It's her that people think of when talking about the sport in New Zealand and whoever made that initial phone call to the South African-born shooter when she immigrated to Wellington in 2000 should still be being thanked by Netball New Zealand.

At 37, we're clearly in the twilight of van Dyk's career, but the ridiculously high expectations she puts on herself have meant she is still one of the first players picked by Ruth Aitken in the national squad and hot property in the ANZ Championship which starts today.

This will be van Dyk's 17th season of international netball, but such is her larger than life enthusiasm, on the eve of her third trans-Tasman campaign with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, she's like a little girl on Christmas Eve.

There's few chances to slip in questions, and scarcely time to scribble down what she has to say about her team, the competition in general, and a training regime that sees her working with her trainer 12 months of the year.

Even at 37, with the reputation of the world's best shooter firmly in her grasp, van Dyk doesn't give herself a chance for a break in the rapidly shrinking off-season.

"Once you've been a couch potato, it's really hard to pick it back up," she says.

Van Dyk has committed to the national team for this year and next – though she's quick to throw in an unneeded "if I'm selected" – meaning what will likely be her last two years in the sport will be her toughest.

Another gruelling 17-week campaign starts on Monday for the Magic, though the preseason has been going since January, and that will be backed up by a fourth Commonwealth Games for van Dyk, her third for New Zealand.

Then next year the Australasian competition will be followed by the world champs in Singapore.

"Yeah, it's going to be a massive couple of years." But most of van Dyk's excitement, for now at least, is aimed solely at the competition at hand.

"We can't ask for a better game to start with," she said of the Magic's first encounter with defending champion Melbourne Vixens, in Melbourne.

"We're going to smack them hard."

The words sound venomous, but the chuckle with it stop it from being out-and-out fighting talk.

The Magic have opted to save themselves for the main competition and not bother with preseason tournaments and, predictably, van Dyk is very positive about the move.

"We've done things very differently to last year and the feeling in the camp is really good.

"Obviously we don't know what they're going to throw at us, but vice versa, and maybe more importantly they don't know what we've got either.

"I think those preseason competitions were five games in three days so we haven't had the pounding on the body as much as they have."

Van Dyk's new partner in the shooting circle is Jodi Brown and van Dyk is predicting a big year for the 28-time Silver Fern.

"Jodi is a busier player than what [former Magic shooter] Maria [Tutaia] used to be. Jodi has a little more experience but she learned from Belinda [Colling] who is probably the best in the game. She just hasn't had the players around her to show all her strengths."

Van Dyk is also full of praise for Australian import Peta Scholz and thinks the Magic will be far stronger moving the ball through the court this season.

"Peta doesn't muck around with the ball and her balls feel like bullets.

"I think we're going to look so different bringing the ball through the court."

But this year van Dyk's motivation is what it has always been – fun, but she's still as driven as ever.

"The older I get the more I appreciate things and make sure I go out there and enjoy it. Obviously I want to play the best netball I can and make sure there's no shooter better than me to secure my spot." Waikato Times

- © Fairfax NZ News