Te Paea Selby-Rickit doesn’t like a fuss being made .
But when the Trident Homes Tactix goal attack runs out for Monday night’s ANZ Premiership match at MainPower Stadium in Rangiora against the Magic, she will have to endure a little more of the spotlight as she marks her 50th match in red-and-black colours.
“I don’t like all the fuss that comes with it, being in the spotlight, but yes, it is significant, and I’ll look forward to celebrating that with my team-mates,” she said.
Selby-Rickit has played 142 matches at national league level after making her debut in the former trans-Tasman competition in 2011 for the Southern Steel.
Well settled in Dunedin and with strong links to the blue dress of the Deep South, few expected to see the younger of the Selby-Rickit netball sisters – her older sister Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit another Steel stalwart – bid farewell to the Steel and head to the Tactix.
But the move in 2020 excited Selby-Rickit and now, knocking on the door of 50 matches for the Tactix, it is something that the goal attack is proud of – knowing the graft that is needed to play year-in and year-out and never dreaming she would play as many games as she has.
“It was a big deal to move but it’s something that I’d been mulling over for a couple of years, and I’d had a few phone calls with (coach) Marianne (Delaney-Hoshek),” she said.
“I’d been in Dunedin for a few years, but all of my Uni friends were shifting away, and I think I also needed that change, to get out of my comfort zone.”
It helped that Jane Watson was also playing for the Tactix – the defender having played with Selby-Rickit for three seasons at the Steel.
There were also family friends in Christchurch with her biggest supporters, parents Hud and Mereana, having lived in the city for a couple of years.
“I’ve loved being in Christchurch,” Selby-Rickit said. “It’s a big city but without that big city feel – it’s still so easy to get to places, there’s still that feeling of community and I’ve really enjoyed the shift.
“My parents used to live here and there are family friends who are still here so there’s lots of ties which has also been nice.”
And then there is the netball.
On arriving in Christchurch, she knew there would be changes to her game – the shift meant she was plying her trade in a new environment amongst new faces.
“At the Steel I had the luxury of playing with people that I knew really well but moving to the Tactix I had to learn a lot of that over again, which was a good thing. It was good for me, good for my game,” she said.
Two ANZ Premiership Grand Final appearances – the decider against the Mystics in 2021 going down to the wire – has Selby-Rickit hungry for more in the red dress.
“We’d really like to go that one step further and do it for the people of our region – there’s a lot that’s gone on in the region and the people are so resilient, we’d like to give something back.”
- The Trident Homes Tactix play the Magic at MainPower Stadium in Rangiora on Monday at 7.35pm, live on Sky Sport
