‘Why are you leaving?': Silver Fern's brave call to join the Steel
“I just didn't want to get to the end of my career and then think, what if? What if I didn't move? and have those sorts of questions. I just thought, why not give it a go?”
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Silver Fern midcourter Kimiora Poi wanted to step outside her comfort zone during the 2025 ANZ Premiership.
When you dig deep into the decision to join the Southern Steel in 2025, there’s little doubt the 27-year-old has done just that.
Before departing, Poi had spent seven seasons at the Tactix. The last three of those years were as captain.
On top of that, she was in the form of her life, and Poi and her partner were settled in Christchurch.
It’s not the sort of formula that would normally spark thoughts of a netball move.
And if we are brutally honest, not a move to a Southern Steel team, which had won just one of its past 30 games when she decided to sign.
But Poi had a theory.
“I was thinking I was just getting a bit stale in my netball. In the last couple of years, before the year just gone, I had been thinking, Do I need a change?” Poi told The Roar Podcast this week.
“But I just couldn't quite do it. And I was just like, I'm just not ready for it yet. I just couldn't make that move at that time, the last couple of years.
“But after the year just gone, even though - this sounds so stupid - I was playing probably the best netball that I had played in my career, [I decided to move].
“Everyone's asking me, ‘why are you leaving? You had the best season with the Tactix.
“I just didn't want to get to the end of my career and then think, what if? What if I didn't move? And have those sorts of questions. I just thought, why not give it a go?”
The shortened two-round 2025 ANZ Premiership season also helped with the decision to make a shift from Christchurch to another team.
“I wasn't devoting my whole life to moving down to Invercargill. It was just like five months of my life that I just got to come here, give it my all, and see what happens,” Poi told The Roar Podcast.
There’s one thing deciding to move from a team you were captain of, but there was another significant decision around which of the other five teams Poi would link with.
Poi said playing with fellow Silver Ferns midcourter Kate Heffernan was a major drawcard, even if that connection was stalled a little by Heffernan’s early-season knee injury.
There was also the need to find a team with a midcourt opening, and the Steel provided that.
“Most other teams had their established centre, wing attack… If nobody else moved to create space, [Steel] is probably the team that had space for another mid-courter.
“I didn't actually really look anywhere and just went with it.”
So, was there any anxiety attached to that decision?
“I think I still have those thoughts now sometimes. Definitely, obviously, I hadn't made the Ferns when I made the decision to move down here, at that point.
“But, definitely, all those thoughts went through my head. Do I give it one more go with the Tactix? But I've been saying that for the last five years. Do I give it one more go, one more year?
“I had so many thoughts, but I guess I was just like, be brave, just go do it,” Poi told The Roar Podcast.
Poi has joined a Steel environment oozing with midcourt knowledge, given Wendy Frew is the team’s head coach and Liana Leota the assistant coach.
Leota looks after the team’s attack and Frew the defence.
“I guess I've got the best of both worlds, an attacking mid-court coach and a defensive mid-court coach.
“I'm loving [Liana]… she's definitely added to my attacking game, just the way she looks at the game, makes us think about the game, and just how we actually play the game.
“I've never had anything like that before, so that's been really cool.”
Heading into Saturday’s showdown against the Stars in Auckland Poi acknowledged the team was in a "rut” but they stepped out of that rut with a comprehensive 62-46 win.
There was a standout performance from shooter Aliyah Dunn, who enjoyed a 45/46 return under the hoop, while the continued strong form of rising young defender Carys Stythe has been key for the Steel.
Her five intercepts and six deflections gave the Steel the overall edge.