Tara Murray
City West Falcons star Uneeq Palavi put her name in lights in her short Suncorp Super Netball stint with the New South Wales Swifts.
Palavi spent three weeks with the Swifts and managed to get court time in all four games, starting in two.
Now back in Melbourne, Palavi said it’s been a crazy ride.
“It’s been such a rush,” she said. “It’s been going so fast.
“I feel like it was just yesterday that Briony [Akle, Swifts coach] gave me the call that she was considering me to come play and now I’m back at Falcons and it feels good to be home.
“I was so shocked when she [Akle] asked what I thought about it and I went, ‘are you sure?’ and we had a little bit of a giggle.
“I was so grateful that she even thought about me to put me in that position to show Suncorp what I can do and I’m grateful for it.”
Palavi said the Swifts did everything they could to make her time comfortable, making sure she was fed, picking her up for training and offered for her to stay at their houses.
“I loved that environment they made my debut so smooth, they couldn’t have managed it being even more smoother than that.”
For Palavi, it’s the third Super Netball club she has been involved with after being a training partner for Collingwood previously and for the Melbourne Mavericks this season but the first time being in a game day team.
Palavi said when she went to Sydney she expected that she would spend most of her time on the bench.
Instead she was thrust into the spotlight. In the Swifts game against the Giants she shot 43 goals from 45 in regular time and one super shot and was the SSN named her its player of the round.
“To get a starting seven twice, I just felt blessed that she even gave me the opportunity and taken me to be a starting seven,” she said.
“It was pretty cool. Even coming up against Shamara [Sterling-Humphrey], everyone was like how to you feel about coming up against Shamara, obviously a bit nerve-wracking, but after playing it, it was another game of netball that we all know and love.”
Palvai said sharing the goal circle with English star Helen Housby was incredible calling her the goat and made her job so much easier.
On top of her SSN debut, Palavi came off another standout performance representing Tonga at the Pacific Nations Series, where she won the most valuable player award.
With the Swifts season over, Palavi will be a key player in the Falcons championship hopes.
“It’s good because I missed this club and although I would have loved to see Swifts in the finals, Winning that last game it felt like a grand final regardless.”
With those games under her belt, Palavi is hoping there are more opportunities in the future for her in SSN.
“It honestly does but at the same time, I’m not going to whine and cry about if I don’t get an opportunity because I understand that the game is the game and being a goal shooter, there’s an expected high limit and that I don’t exceed.
“I was glad to be able to show everyone that you don’t really need the height, regardless it was good to show my flare and what I could add to the game.”
