Former Silver Fern Laura Langman is in no rush to return to netball after announcing her departure from Australian franchise the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
However, her imminent homecoming certainly has New Zealand Netball's undivided attention.
While it’s still unclear why she suddenly terminated her Australian contract, Netball New Zealand say they won’t be turning a blind eye to their second-most capped player ever.
"We would be open to talking to Laura about taking up a role in netball in 2018," Netball NZ CEO Jennie Wyllie told Newshub.
"She's implicated she wants a break, but we are open to talking to her at any stage in the process.
"If there was an opportunity in a team that had a place in the roster then that might be the case."
The 31-year-old has been returning to play for the Waikato club during the Australian off season, but to qualify for the upcoming Commonwealth games and 2019 Netball World Cup she must be signed to an official franchise.
While any of the Kiwi sides would gladly take her services, it takes more than just space on a team roster to recruit a player of Langman's pedigree.
"The reality is who has spaces available, who has salary cap space available – those are the real key questions. You can say you want this you want that, but it comes down to a business reality," said Netball CEO for Netball Waikato/Bay of Plenty Rohan West.
"We would need to have those discussions sooner rather than later. This news has come as surprise to many people but we will be reaching out to Laura very shortly."
In an official statement addressing her departure, Langman confirmed she had yet to put any plans in place.
"There were a lot of tears and a lot of thought put into this, but I am happy with my decision."
"At this point in time I have nothing concrete planned for next year, but I will put more energy into travel, work and family life at home," said the accountant.
Hamilton-born Langman played 141 consecutive Tests for New Zeland from 2005 to 2016, including three Netball World Cups and three Commonwealth Games.
Newshub.
