2024 has been a bit of a whirlwind for 68-capped, Silver Fern Gina Crampton.
The midcourter was supposed to be living it up in New York, taking a year off netball and spending time cheering on her partner while he played a fourth season of Major League Rugby in the states.
But when his team withdrew from the competition last minute, Crampton was forced to pivot.
“As a couple, we had to weigh it up … Do we stay at home in New Zealand? Or should we go somewhere else overseas instead?
“We landed on Sydney, because we thought that would be a good time and while we’re not tied down with kids it was worth giving it a try at least for a couple of years.”
Crampton had already visited the harbour city for netball several times whilst playing for the Silver Ferns and in the old trans-Tasman ANZ Championship but had never had much time to explore.
Since making the move, Crampton has had more time to do this alongside plenty of kiwi mates, linking up with Elle Temu and Jamie Hume at the South West Mounties MAGIC in Premier League.
“Ellie was always going to move over here because her partner had an opportunity in rugby league and Jamie thought she might tag along, so both were already signed with Magic when we found out that New York wasn't going to be on the cards for us anymore.
“They needed another midi, so they said, ‘Why don't you come and play?’
“And that’s when we really had to knuckle down on our decision to go to Sydney, which at the end of the day was a pretty easy decision … I just thought, why not?
“I’d already played with Jamie and Ellie at the Northern Stars in the ANZ Premiership and with the Magic being a new Premier League team, it felt pretty exciting to join their group.”
Then there’s fellow New Zealand midcourter Sam Winders, who Crampton sees regularly in the Giants environment after Winders made the leap to jump over to Super Netball this year.
Crampton was later picked up as a Giants training partner when they found out she’d be in Sydney.
“Everyone has joked, ‘Wow, what’s with the influx of kiwis here?’
“I don’t know, it’s a funny coincidence.”
But just when Crampton had thought she’d settled in Australia, Stars coach Kiri Wills called.
The team needed a temporary injury replacement for the opening rounds of the ANZ Premiership.
As a result, the past fortnight has been a bit of a blur for Crampton, living out of a suitcase and coming back and forth across the ditch.
“That first week of ANZ coincided with the week off in Premier League because of nationals, so I was able to head home and train for like the whole week with the Stars.
“That worked quite well in terms of timing, I guess.
“Then last week Premier League was back of course, so I flew back to Oz for Magic training and our game on Wednesday before I went straight back to New Zealand for the weekend.
“By Monday I’ll be in Sydney again for Premier League round five.”
As for her thoughts on the standard of the state competition, Crampton said she’s been impressed.
“I didn't really know what to expect, but always knew it was going to be that classic Aussie style.
“So far, it's been really impressive and every game has been super tough.
“It's a credit to netball in Sydney and New South Wales that the level can be so high.
“Every team we face is new for us New Zealanders, which is quite good as well, because we don't know what to expect from anyone and that’s the exciting part of each week.”
So far, the Magic Opens side have only dropped one of their four games and sit second in the league, while the U23s are still finding their feet and looking for their first win.
“It’s been a learning curve for all of us because it's a new club.
“We're all trying to learn how to play with each other and while I don't think we're there quite yet, the potential is massive.
“I'm hoping that every week we're just going to get better and better with our connections.
“I'm also learning the different language people use in Ozzy, it's so funny, it's all English but we use completely different lingo, so that's been an interesting one to get my head around.”
Lastly, Crampton said she’s got high hopes for Magic shooter Papi Alaalatoa – who has already graced the international court with Samoa at just 19 years old.
“I’ve been loving working with Papi, learning how to feed her and seeing what we can teach each other has been a cool aspect of our game.
“I think she will be very, very good … There is a lot of potential here and she's still so young, so I'm hoping that myself and all the other players around her can lift her up to get her to that next level.
“Charlie Fidler as well at Magic, she is also another training partner at the Giants and has been an amazing defender for us at goalkeeper, super impressive.
“There are people sort of dotted all through our team that are great to play with.”
Netball NSW Premier League take place every Wednesday Night at Netball Central and every centre pass, intercept and goal will be streamed live and on demand via netballnsw.tv. Round 6 tickets available here
