New Silver Fern feeling at home in the black dress

A busy marketing day at Sky TV in Auckland on Wednesday will forever hold a specialplace in the heart of Claire O’Brien.
The 27-year-old has been to her fair share of promotional days and the hustle and bustle that go with them, from the photographs to social media content, interviews and general marketing of the sport she loves.
But this one was different. It was her first as a Silver Fern and her first opportunity to try on a treasured Silver Ferns dress.
“I went straight to the bathroom to have a look in the mirror.”
The reflection would have been of the black dress, adorned with the Silver Fern.
But there would also have been an image encapsulating perseverance and confirmation for O’Brien that her passion for and dedication to the game have seen her fulfil a goal that has long been there.
That picture wasn’t always so clear.
A series of shifts to four teams and a serious injury to contend with has left O’Brien, at times, questioning her future on the netball court.
“It’s been a bit of a rocky road at times to get to this point. It definitely hasn’t been the smoothest of sailings,” she laughs.
She’s loth to call it a journey but she has been travelling a netball pathway and encountered a number of stops, road bumps, the odd U-turn, and a fight to find her place in the vehicle.
Born and raised in Australia, O’Brien was elevated into Suncorp Super Netball in 2017 when she made her debut for the NSW Swifts.
Growing up in a sports-mad family, she had dabbled in numerous sports at school but found herself drawn to netball because of the obvious pathways she could see towards making it her profession.
The step up with the Swifts looked to have only confirmed that, but securing a regular starting spot was proving difficult for the specialist wing attack.
A season-ending injury in 2018 was just the first of many setbacks O’Brien had to overcome, but she put the ruptured achilles in her rear vision mirror and changed gear, earning a place as a training partner with the Giants.
Again it was limited minutes on game day that planted the seed of yet another move – a major one.
With Kiwi heritage – her mother, Liz, hails from Waimana, and her father, John, from Rotorua – the idea of plying her trade in New Zealand gained traction and O’Brien found herself Auckland bound as a training partner for the Mystics in 2021.
Learning from the likes of midcourt wizard Peta Toeava was an attractive prospect, and she even played a cameo in the ANZ Premiership Grand Final win over the Tactix that year.
O’Brien cemented her place in the side the following season before needing time out to return to her home in Australia and ponder her next step.
Answering an SOS call for the Mystics late in the 2023 season confirmed that O’Brien wanted to make netball her priority.
The biggest challenge, however, has been finding her spot on court.
She picked the right vehicle this year when she headed south of the Bombay Hills to sign on with the Magic.
It was a turning point in her career and a move that rekindled her desire to reach the top,although coach Mary-Jane Araroa says her new recruit never really courted the possibility of a Silver Ferns trial as she was focused solely on performing for the Magic.
“It was around Round 8 of the ANZ Premiership and I’d seen enough of Claire to tell her that she needed to start thinking about getting herself ready for the Silver Ferns.
“She told me she was just here to play as well as she could for the Magic and that want was really around getting re-contracted.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve coached players like that who have stayed very much in the moment and not looked too far ahead. She is just so respectful, appreciative and grateful.”
Araroa says O’Brien, nicknamed Cob, has come full circle and her decision to “return home” to her family roots may have been the spark that was needed to reignite her career on court.
“I think it’s a lovely piece because I said to her ‘do you know your family ties, your whakapapa?’ and I said ‘you’re home, Cob, you are home. You were a bit of a nomad out there, but you’ve found your roots and it’s just lovely to have you here’.”
The regular minutes in the wing attack bib, where she has been feeding Silver Fern goal attack Ameliaranne Ekenasio, has been the growth that O’Brien has needed, and she says she has found her place in the Magic midcourt.
“I’ve learned so much. Obviously playing with Meels [Ekenasio] every week has been a huge bonus but just having that opportunity to implement stuff that you talk about, and you want to work on week in and week out.
“That’s where I feel like you can see the growth and try and execute what we do in training. It’s been a huge shift.”
O’Brien says she has needed those moments during her career to reflect and ensure she was playing for the right reasons.
Being honest with herself and what her destination might look like has taken some work, and even if she had not received a Ferns trial, she feels she has been in a good space with her game this year.
“I think it takes a lot of being honest with yourself, looking at yourself and what can you work on and do you really want this.
“All of those questions are not just a one-off reflection, it’s a constant reflection on how you are going.”
The importance of checking in with herself – and re-checking – is now something else in her toolbox.
“Sometimes it’s quite daunting to face those challenges because once you know the answer, what do you do with that information? It’s confronting but also really rewarding if you can stick it out.”
O’Brien has stuck it out and her passion and love for the game is as high as it has ever been.
“You know that love of playing has always been there, and I guess that has got me through.”
Getting through the next few weeks with Silver Ferns camps and the prospect of her debut in the black dress is what has her full focus.
“I feel like I need to pull it back a little bit because there are still a few steps I have to take to get this right. I just want to get through the first camp and that first test – just trying to stay really process-orientated I reckon.”
She is still working her way through the “surreal” feelings she has had since receiving the call from national coach Dame Noeline Taurua and the pride she felt calling her parents across the ditch with the good news.
The tears and excitement were in equal measures and O’Brien says their backing throughout her netball career, particularly while in different countries, has been instrumental in keeping her in the game.
“They watch my games on their little phone back in Australia, but I’ve had whānau over here who have come to support me, and Dad has been over for a couple of Magic games.”
The “whole tribe” will be in Auckland for the Silver Ferns first Test against England on September 29 at the Trusts Arena, and O’Brien can’t wait to share the experience with her greatest supporters.
She has fond memories of her early netball years playing alongside her siblings and her mum – all in the same team.
“It is such a fun memory because I played for a year with my two older sisters and my mum. Mum would pull the old asthma attack every now and then and would be subbed off, but it was so much fun to all be playing together,” O’Brien says.
“You could probably say that was my start to netball, and it showed me that this game was just as much about the people you play alongside as it is about the skills that you bring.”
Araroa agrees and says the midcourter has added plenty to the Magic family this season on and off the court.
“She is a true wing attack, which is something that Magic have been trying to find for the last two or three seasons. She has a high level of repeated efforts out there, she has that ability to change direction, respond to what the defenders are doing, she’ll go to her repertoire and exercise all types of things until she finds that skill set that is going to keep that defender guessing.
“She’s very funny – likes the banter, brings the dance and is just fun to be around. But when it comes to training, she’s one of those athletes that once you cross the line to train, she’s all on.
“But she is also quite a kind and considerate person. Perseverance is key to success, and she has managed to do that.
“You can’t help but feel proud for her the way she has kept pushing and trying new things. She’s at home in the Silver Fern dress.”