Daneka Wipiiti is only just getting back into training after the birth of her first child, but that has not stopped the former Silver Ferns international player from setting her sights high for the coming season. 
Wipiiti played the last of her nine tests for New Zealand against England in 2008 and said she was excited about getting back in the shooting circle and having a strong ANZ Championship season to press her claim for a Silver Ferns recall.
"I'm hungry to be playing again and to be back out on court again. Hopefully the Ferns will pick me up. We have been talking. I'm just going to do the Steel season then go from there. I'm definitely very hungry for worlds next year."
Wipiiti has not played competitive netball since appearing for Steel in an ANZ Championship match against the Mystics in June last year because of pregnancy and the recent birth of her daughter Kilani-Mae six weeks ago.
Last week, she swapped changing nappies for the training court and said she would slowly be easing herself back into netball mode over the next seven weeks before Steel's opening game against West Coast Fever in Invercargill on March 19.
"I've only been doing one session a day, but this week I'm back into two sessions a day.
"We've got a new trainer (Stephen Hill-Haas) and he's going to be working with me the next few weeks. I'm itching to break a sweat and get the heart rate up."
She did not want to put a timetable on a possible return to the Steel lineup in preseason and said she would be taking things slowly as she got back into the swing of things.
"I'll just play it by ear. Hopefully I'll thrash out a few quarters. I'm hoping to get out there. I don't want to go out there too early, though. It's a long season. My goal is to get out there for the first (ANZ Championship) game down here."
Wipiiti conceded that the challenge of playing in the world's toughest club netball competition and balancing that with being a first-time mother would not be easy, but said it was one she was looking forward to confronting.
"I've just got to make sure I keep the balance with her and my trainings," she said.
With Wipiiti being a shooter, she believed that it would be easier to adjust to the rigours of top-level netball again than if she was a midcourter, who have to dart all over the court and jump around. 
"I'm very lucky that I only have to stand under the hoop and put a hand up. I'm not a Liana Barrett-Chase who has to jump. You get bashed around in the (shooting) circle and it's pretty physical, but you don't have to run around."
Wipiiti will not be the only first-time mother in this year's Steel squad with new recruit Leana de Bruin also giving birth to a son, Caleb, in November. Wipiiti said having a team-mate in a similar position to herself would be great.
"We can share tips and share babysitters if we have to. It's really good to have her on board. She's an amazing defender."
During last year's ANZ Championship, Steel encountered problems with first-time mother Donna Wilkins, who argued that the franchise did not provide her with enough support.
Wipiiti said she had discussed being a first-time mother with Steel officials and was happy with the arrangements they had come to for the upcoming season.
"We've got policies in place and I understand where we lie with babies. I'm very lucky to have family come down and help me out with the training side of things ... Last year was a first time for everybody. You always have slipups here and there."
For now, though, Wipiiti is counting down to her first competitive match in more than six months.
"I've been out for so long. I'm itching to put those netball shoes on again."
Source: The Press.co.nz