Tamsin Greenway selects Fionnuala Toner as One2Watch in the ZEO Netball Superleague
By Tamsin Greenway
Last Updated: 01/04/14 2:21pm
Sky Sports expert Tamsin Greenway has selected Team Northumbria WD Fionnuala Toner as One2Watch in the ZEO Netball Superleague.
Click the video above to watch Tamsin's SkyPad analytics, then read Fionnuala's answers to our quick questions!
FIONNUALA TONER Q&A
When did you start playing Netball?
FIONNUALA: "I started playing when I was a first year in secondary school as it was part of the PE curriculum and we also had an after school club. The following year I joined the club based at my school, Belfast Ladies and have remained with them ever since!
I come from a basketball family and have played basketball since I was six and have spent two years in America playing basketball at high school and college.
However, this past Christmas I decided to take a step back from basketball in order to fully focus on netball given the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the opportunity to play in the ZEO Netball Superleague."
What are your ambitions in Netball?
FIONNUALA: "This year the main focus is to make the final 12 for the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team for Glasgow this summer. "This year also has qualifiers for the Netball World Cup 2015 in Sydney and to be involved in the team for qualification and also to then continue through for Sydney would also be an ambition of mine."
Who has been your toughest opponent this season?
FIONNUALA: "The toughest team would have to be Manchester Thunder as they are very clinical and play sharp, quick and smart netball for 60minutes!"
As a WD, the toughest player opponent would be Tamsin Greenway - her experience and ability to feed Rachel Dunn from pretty much anywhere is difficult to contain! "When in GD it would have to be Pam Cookey - her speed and reaction speed/ball handling are hard to match!"
Who is your Netball hero?
FIONNUALA: "As I didn't grow up playing netball I wouldn't say I have a netball hero per se however I love watching Casey Kopua play. "Basketball wise I would say Coach K (Head Coach of Duke University's men basketball team) is the most admirable figure for me in college basketball given the significant impact he has had over the years and his undeniable winning tradition."
What's your highlight of the season so far...
FIONNUALA: "The first Live Sky Sports game was something special for me as it is something I never thought I would get the opportunity to do! "Also, our result against Celtic Dragons was a big result for Team Northumbria as it was the first home game; it was great to get a good result right at the start of the season and also personally, given the squad make-up of the Dragons team is effectively the Welsh national team it was a great result for Northern Ireland as a number of our players play for Team Northumbria. That's especially important given it is Commonwealth year and also with qualifiers for the 2015 World Cup at the end of May."
