Katrina Rore's plans to return to netball this season, and possibly the Silver Ferns, have been eclipsed by the shock news she's expecting her second child. And the former NZ captain couldn't be happier with the "blessing", she tells Merryn Anderson.
She has one World Cup title, a Commonwealth Games gold and an ANZ Premiership grand final victory. And if that’s it for Katrina Rore’s netball career - so be it.
Right now, Rore’s future involves being a mum to 10-month-old LilyBud and a new baby due in September.
Rore’s pregnancy announcement came as a shock to many, including Rore and husband, Joel.
“With Lily, it was a long process for us, so I didn’t think we could ever get pregnant with a surprise,” says Rore.
She found out earlier this year, around the same time her father, John, sadly passed away.
“It was a great shock for us,” Rore says of the pregnancy. “But I’m very blessed and lucky for this to have happened to us.”
Rore made her Silver Ferns debut (as Katrina Grant) in 2008 when she was just 21, and has since racked up 137 international caps, including a handful as the 26th captain of the national side.
Having played her last Silver Ferns game in the 2019 Constellation Cup, many would have expected Rore to be in contention for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games squad after this year’s ANZ Premiership. But with the Games starting in July, Rore won’t be in consideration.
It’s too early to know if the 34-year-old still has any games left in the black dress once she recovers from having LilyBud’s younger sibling. Rore says she’s still trying to get her head around her unexpected situation.
When the Rore family moved to Rotorua to raise LilyBud, Rore’s netball career moved with them - making the switch from the Central Pulse (who she played with for a decade) to the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
Rore’s time with the Magic isn’t over before it starts, though - the defender hoping to still play while she can, but she’s taking it day-by-day.
“We’ve got a lot of training partners, we’ve got some great players in our Magic squad,” she says. “And with Covid, who knows when you need to step into any kind of role?”
New Magic coach Mary-Jane Araroa congratulated the Rores on their news, explaining they haven’t yet decided how much of the season she’ll play.
“It is still quite early stages for us but we’re hugely supportive of what needs to happen for them,” Araroa says.
“It’s up to her, really, how far she wants to go into it with her pregnancy, so we’re holding those discussions this week with her.”
The Magic also have the services of another Silver Ferns captain, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, returning to play after welcoming her second child, daughter Luna, late last year.
“We’re so pleased with what [Ekenasio] brings to the team and obviously her leadership and also her knowledge throughout the court,” Araroa says. “So we’ve been really pleased but she is on quite a strict return-to-play plan.”
With young shooter Khiarna Williams ruled out from playing the beginning of the season with a back injury, the Magic – who were bottom of the table in 2021 - are likely to have a disrupted season.
Rore says she has nothing to prove this year.
The captain of the Ferns during their forgettable fourth place finish at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Rore isn’t worried about replacing those memories with a new campaign.
“I’m not fazed about a redemption story one bit, I’ve done my dash,” she says. She’s the proud owner of a gold medal from the iconic 2010 Delhi Games double extra-time win over Australia.
If Rore takes the court for the Magic in their opening game against the Mystics this Sunday, it will be her first game of ANZ Premiership netball in 567 days.
“It does feel like it’s been a while, but that is a long, long time ago, isn’t it?” she says.
Winning the World Cup with the Silver Ferns back in July 2019 would surely be a highlight of Rore’s career, playing full games at wing defence for the semifinal and final of the tournament.
The 2022 Magic side is heavily stacked in the defensive end, seven of their 10 contracted players able to play wing defence or in-circle defence, with five of those seven having Silver Ferns caps to their names.
Rore took the court for the Magic in preseason and says she was “absolutely shattered” by the end of her first game against the Mystics.
“I was the most unfit I’ve ever been in my career,” she says.
“That was the hardest part coming back - trying to find my new self and my new body and physicality and fitness and not playing harder, but playing smarter.
“I was trying to use my smarts, the old head, all the little tricks of the trade just to try get myself ahead of those young ones.”
Despite dealing with the ups and downs of her netball career, being a mum is a brand-new challenge for Rore.
“I’ve been through a lot within my netball career, so I’ve had time to know myself, find myself and find my balance,” she says.
“But becoming a mother is definitely something completely different that you’re not prepared for until you step into that and your child is born.
“All of a sudden, you have someone who needs to depend on you 24/7 and you’re their everything so that was a massive change - not just being able to pick up my bag and go to training.”
Having to learn to trust others and herself was a big lesson for Rore, but she credits her amazing support system for getting her to trainings.
“Joel, my husband, is unreal when I have training. I’m very, very fortunate he’s so hands-on,” Rore explains.
“Then Lily’s got an amazing in-home carer, Bronwyn, who lives just down the round. We drop Lily off there and it’s as if she’s going to a family member - they love each other like they’re aunty and niece, it’s such a great bond they have.”
LilyBud also has an abundance of aunties at the Magic, too.
“She’s such a charmer,” Rore laughs. “She came to a game in Te Awamutu the other week against the Stars and she just charmed the pants off everybody.”
So while Rore’s future with netball is up in the air, her role as a soon-to-be mother of two stands solid.
“Getting to see my little girl grow up, even though she’s only 10 months old, just watching her grow is the best thing in the world.”
*The ANZ Premiership kicks off this weekend, with the Mystics taking on the Magic on Sunday at 2.15pm and the Tactix facing the Steel at 4.15pm; both games live on Sky Sport 1. (The Pulse v Stars game has been postponed because of Covid cases in the Pulse side).
