Former Silver Fern content with decision to leave NZ netball

Netballer Sam Winders last pulled on the black dress two years ago, but she's now made herself ineligible for Silver Ferns selection next season by signing a new Super Netball deal across the ditch.

And she's at peace with that consequence.

After 10 years of netball in New Zealand, Winders has taken up a one-year contract with the Giants in Australia next year.

The 28-year-old, who played nine seasons for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and one with the Southern Steel, approached the Sydney-based club in July following the conclusion of the ANZ Premiership.

"We were contracting for the ANZ and I made a decision that I was not going to sign and contemplate my next move," Winders told 1News.

"It was quite a tough decision to make, but I made it quite quickly. But I did reach out to the Giants and didn't hear back months, until [coach] Julie [Fitzgerald] gave me a call and offered me a contract and that sort of solved all my worries."

Winders said although she was open to taking a year off from playing, she wasn't quite ready to hang up her netball shoes for good.

"A season at least with the Giants is something I've always wanted to do, so it's perfect timing."

And while living and playing in Australia will be a new experience, there will be some sense of familiarity. Winders will be reunited with old Magic team mates Jamie-Lee Price and Jo Harten, as well as coach Fitzgerald.

Though the move will make the 47-Test Silver Fern ineligible for New Zealand next year.

"It's quite a tricky one for me," she said.

"Playing for the Silver Ferns has been my biggest aspiration since I was young and I'm grateful for the games I have played with them.

"That drive to play for the best team in the world or to play on the international stage never goes away."

That same drive has seen Winders adapt a fairly unique environment for her off-season training, turning a shearing shed in Port Waikato into her own little gym.

"We're currently living in Waikāretu Valley... I've basically followed my husband here, he's a shearer. I'm being super selfless and I've decided to cook for the shearing gang this year," she said with a grin.

"It's been a big, new experience but it's nice to spend time with him and live in a beautiful place for a few months."

In fact, the farm life served as a good distractor for Winders while her contract took time to materialise due to the recent Collective Player Agreement [CPA] pay saga between Netball Australia and players.

Winders said it was "fascinating" to watch the ordeal play out before it was finalised last week and in some key ways, she knew what her new opponents and teammates were going through.

"I definitely felt like I was on the outskirts of it a bit, especially being in New Zealand and it all being over in Australia and my heart went out to all those Aussie girls who, like most netballers in New Zealand as well, are on 12-month contracts and it just rolls over automatically. No one was prepared for it to not have been organised," she said.

"I had been in a position where I was like, 'okay, I need to find [another job]' because I wasn't going to play so I can understand where they were coming from in terms of being put in a position they weren't ready for.

"I'm really lucky I had a supportive husband... and took up this cooking role!"

Only time will tell though if her trans-Tasman move is a winning recipe.