After feeling stuck in her netball career, Sarahpheinna Woulf crossed the Tasman to join the Southern Steel - where she's starting to make a name for herself as a fierce, uncompromising defender, leading the fightback in their latest shock victory.
It's lucky Sarahpheinna Woulf likes the cold.
The powerful Steel defender was born and raised in the warm climes of Sydney, but has called the chillier Invercargill home for the last 15 months.
And that's 15 months, straight. Unable to go back home between seasons with New Zealand's lockdowns, Woulf hasn’t seen her family since the beginning of 2021.
That's not easy when, as one of nine children, family is everything to the 22-year-old (who's named after the musical, Sarafina!, based on the Soweto Uprising).
“It’s my first time being away from my family, so not being able to go back and spend time with them in the off-season was really hard,” says Woulf.
But the tight-knit Steel have become her second whānau - in particular, midcourter Renee Savi’inaea, whose family took Woulf in when she was unable to return home over the summer.
She's settling in well to her new life, too. After needing to fall in love with netball again following a serious knee injury, Woulf made the decision to cross the Tasman and sign up with the Steel.
And earlier this week, she truly stamped her mark on the New Zealand netball scene, named player of the match in the closest game of the season so far.
During her first ANZ Premiership season in 2021, Woulf was mainly used as an impact player, playing 198 minutes over 13 games (an average of 15 minutes a match).
This season, she's already amassed 144 minutes of court time in just four games, including playing all 66 minutes of Monday’s 66-63 overtime win over the Central Pulse.
With veteran defender Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit missing the game, still recovering from Covid, Woulf pulled on the goal keep bib - a position she's less accustomed to in the defensive circle - teaming up with Kate Burley. The duo improved as the game went on, providing crucial tips and turnovers.
It was an uncharacteristically error-filled game from the southern side, down 11 goals going into the final quarter.
But it was no surprise considering the tough week they'd had - without Selby-Rickit and Ali Wilshier, and also missing their head coach, Reinga Bloxham, and team manager, Dayna Kaio.
The team flew to Rotorua on Friday only to be told as they stepped off the plane that their Saturday afternoon clash with the Magic was called off. So being able to take the court in Wellington - the only game of the round that went ahead - was a huge relief.
At the three-quarter time break, the message from assistant coach Jo Morrison (with virtual input from Bloxham), was to fight back.
“It was: 'We’ve gone through a massive week and we didn’t come here to not put on a good performance and not give everything we have,” recalls Woulf. “It was just make sure we back each other up and trust in the process, trust that we'd done the work in the previous weeks.”
The message to Woulf herself was to move her feet constantly to get off the body of Pulse goal shoot Aliyah Dunn and to attack the ball.
The pep talk worked - the Steel winning the final quarter 19-8 to force the game into the first extra time of the season.
Woulf has been working hard on her fitness since she started with the Steel, and playing consistently for her first full ANZ Premiership game, plus extra time, was proof of her labour.
With 25 seconds to go in the first period of extra time, she came up with a flying intercept on the circle edge to prevent the Pulse from tying the scores. Another tip from Woulf in the second stanza of extra time secured the deal for the Steel, winning the game by three goals.
Awarded MVP for the game with six gains, six deflections and five intercepts, Woulf is humble in victory, complimenting the whole team on the win.
“I would have never got those balls if it wasn’t for our team pressure, and our attack also helping out, so it was definitely a team effort,” she says.
While Woulf misses her family - especially the little kids running round - she admits she enjoys the slower pace of Invercargill life.
“I actually enjoy the peace and quiet,” she says. “I think in busy cities, it’s easy to get caught up in all of it…I just like how people live here and being able to live in the moment.”
And the chill of Invercargill doesn’t bother her either. “Even though everyone keeps complaining that it’s so cold down here, Aussie’s just so humid. Coming to the cold is actually real nice.”
Woulf (top right) with her Southern Steel teammates, her family while the young defender is away from home.
Woulf’s first professional contract came at the end of 2017, when the Sunshine Coast Lightning, led by New Zealand’s own Dame Noeline Taurua, offered 17-year-old Woulf a contract for the 2018 Suncorp Super Netball season.
She was set to be the first player in Australia’s domestic league to play while still at high school, but a knee injury mere weeks out from their opening game, ruled her out of the season.
Along with the physical rehab, it was a tough journey for Woulf to embark on mentally.
“Everything you just have to do for yourself - a lot of people can help you, you have the people around you for support but at the end of the day, it’s you that has to push yourself,” she says.
Her support included the team at the Lightning - the physio, strength and conditioning coach and psychologist helping her to return to full fitness.
“It was just backing myself up that I could come back better and stronger,” she says.
But Woulf found herself "feeling stuck" on her return, and then came the call from Bloxham.
“For me to take a step further, I just needed to enjoy the sport for myself and not for anyone else,” Woulf says. “So when this opportunity arose in New Zealand, I thought this is a new change, something different for me, definitely out of my comfort zone, but it’s something I definitely wanted to take.
“It was about falling in love with the sport again and playing for me, because in the past years I kind of had been playing for everyone.”
Woulf’s journey with netball started with her sister, and the Woulf family looking for a club where the girls could play. They were approached by Samantha Dawes, a head coach in Sydney’s junior development programme, who took them under her wing.
“She came to our door and actually asked if she could take my sister and I in to play with her association, and then from there, she pretty much taught me all I needed to know for netball,” Woulf says.
Another who carved a way for the young defender is current Lightning head coach Kylee Byrne, who was assistant coach when Woulf was with the team.
Woulf was a shooter all through high school, until one day at a training when they were short on defenders, she was asked to trial as a defender, knowing her physical style of play could be an asset.
“From there, I just kept playing defence and never really went back to shooter,” Woulf says, Byrne teaching her the ropes.
Woulf is always quick to point out her success is due to the people around her.
“My parents definitely struggled when I was younger, paying all the fees and all that so I really didn’t want to waste the time and effort they put into putting us kids through sport,” she says.
Her parents are Samoan German, and Sarahpheinna sits in the middle of their nine kids.
“My parents actually got my name from an African movie called Sarafina!,” she explains - her distinctive spelling in honour of her grandmother, Sarah, on her mum’s side.
Woulf is hoping to return to Australia as soon as the season finishes and reunite with the people who've backed her journey.
“I wouldn’t be here without my family and the support system that I’ve been given,” she says.
“And I’m a real big believer of God, so I give glory to him for giving me the talent and opening up all the doors for me.”
* Round 6 of the ANZ Premiershp kicks off on Saturday, with the Tactix taking on the Stars at 4pm on Sky Sport 3. On Sunday the Steel face the Mystics at 4pm on Sky Sport 1. The round concludes with the Magic vs Pulse on Monday night, 7pm on Sky Sport 1.
