In a bakery in Adelaide’s laidback seaside suburb of West Beach, Kate Heffernan resists the temptation of hazelnut meringues the size of her hand. At least, for now.

This is where Heffernan has begun a new chapter. A stone’s throw from the beach, she shares a house with fellow Adelaide Thunderbirds rookie, South African shooter Elmeré van der Berg. In the few weeks they’ve been there, the locals have already extended a helping hand.

“We bought a couch that we were trying to fit in our car. So many people came up and asked if they could help,” Heffernan says. “But it was a shambles. We had to get it delivered in the end.”

Sitting in her local bakery, the Silver Fern midcourter looks relaxed and refreshed – a sharp contrast to the toughest year in New Zealand netball history, and the emotional wrench of leaving family behind for six months to ply her trade in the Suncorp Super Netball league.

The distance is most keenly felt with her identical twin and Silver Ferns goal attack, Georgia Heffernan. “We’ve always been in the same place and done the same things,” says Kate, who played netball alongside her sister in the Southern Steel and cricket with her in the Otago Sparks.

Seeing double: Georgia (left) and Kate Heffernan interviewed after an ANZ Premiership match. Photo / Getty Images

The first set of sisters to take the court for the Silver Ferns at the same time, the twins were also living together in Dunedin, with Kate’s partner, Highlanders rugby player Henry Bell.

“G and I were laughing about how there’s probably no other two people you can think of who spend as much time together as we do. We train together, live together, have the same job, hang out when we’re not working,” Kate says.

“It’s always been that we’d rather do things together. But it’s also special to do our own thing for a while.”

They weren’t apart for long. Georgia is staying with Kate in West Beach this week before her preseason with the Steel kicks off. Their parents, Annette and Noel, have booked a couple of trips over, too.

Kate Heffernan (right) against Australia in 2024. Photo / Photosport

The change in environment hit Kate hardest a week earlier, when the mercury climbed to 43 degrees Celsius two days in a row – a far cry from the single-digit temperatures she’s accustomed to in Invercargill.

“I’ve never experienced weather like that before, let alone trained in it,” she says. “It was a shock to the system and made training feel slower. I love warm weather, even though I come from the bottom of New Zealand. So I’m really enjoying it – although over 40 was probably a bit much.”

For the Thunderbirds, Kate Heffernan’s arrival has been a long while coming. The club first approached her a couple of years ago, and nurtured a relationship for when the timing was right.

Head coach Tania Obst had long admired Heffernan’s on-court qualities, but just as important was her alignment with the Thunderbirds’ culture.

“Kate was super humble when we were chatting to her, and her desire to be the best she can be, while also striving for team success, really shone through. So I had no hesitation that culturally she would be a great fit for us,” she says.

Heffernan, one of nine Silver Ferns in this season’s SSN, has always been keen to test herself in the Australian league. But it wasn’t until last July, when Netball New Zealand changed the eligibility rules to allow overseas-based players to be selected for the Silver Ferns that she seriously considered the move.

“When I got the green light [from Netball New Zealand], it was stressful. I was like, ‘Oh, okay, there’s no reason why I can’t go’. I just had to commit to it,” she says. “The thought of leaving home was scary, but, with this team, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t go.”

Heffernan was the final signing and is the only New Zealander in the Thunderbirds in 2026. She joins Jamaican defenders Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey – who had her first child in October – and South African shooter van der Berg, last season’s top shooter in the UK’s Super League.

Diamonds up-and-coming stars Matilda Garrett and Georgie Horjus round out the internationals in a side that won the championship in 2023 and 2024, but bowed out in the semi-finals last season.

Kate Heffernan in her new Thunderbirds kit. Photo / Adelaide Thunderbirds

“They’re obviously doing something very well here, because they have a pathway of players coming through – half the signed group are South Australian girls,” says Heffernan, 26, one of the senior T-Birds. “There’s a cool balance of homegrown and international experience – we’ve got a really exciting team.”

The resources available have been an eye-opener for Heffernan. “We had a good set-up at the Steel, but this is another step up,” she says. “I always have eyes on me in the gym and people supporting me all the time. And they’re great at what they do.”

The team has relocated to Adelaide Arena this year while the Netball SA Stadium gets a $92m makeover, and also spends time at the South Australian Sports Institute. Matches continue at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, with an average 8000 spectators a game.

Obst has been closely watching Heffernan’s development, impressed by her attacking defensive game – a strong fit for the Thunderbirds’ style – and her speed on attack. “Being a left-hander adds something different, too. And she’s shown both domestically and internationally she can feed the circle,” she says.

“Already she’s shown what a good team person she is. She has a real desire to understand strategies and systems we’re putting into place, but also we recognise her strengths and how we can make them part of our group.”

While Heffernan captained the Steel last season on returning from a knee injury, she doesn’t have an official leadership role in the Thunderbirds.

“It’s refreshing to focus on myself and make sure I can transition to SSN seamlessly. It’s a whole different style of game, and I know it will be challenging at times finding my feet and being able to do what I know I can do really well,” she says.

“I had eight years with the Steel and I loved it, but this challenge is cool. I’ve still got so much more to give.”

It’s part of the reason Heffernan left for Australia – to grow her own game before returning to the Silver Ferns.

“I feel lucky to be one of the players allowed to go,” she says. “It was a hard decision – understanding the whole dynamic of the ANZ Premiership and wanting the competition at home to fire. But we want to win the Commonwealth Games this year and the [2027] World Cup. We have so much fire in our belly; we just want to bring it back to the Ferns.”

The 2025 Ferns’ international season was turbulent – head coach Dame Noeline Taurua stood down on the eve of the Taini Jamison series against South Africa, with interim coach Yvette McCausland-Durie stepping in.

On the back of uncertainty around the future of the ANZ Premiership and its broadcasting rights, it was a “heavy” and “unsettling” time, says Heffernan.

“But as soon as the Silver Ferns started playing, I was able to switch straight into netball mode, and I felt some of the weight lift,” she says.

“Initially, you could see it was really hard for everyone to be present – a disrupted lead-in, and not enough time together. But as soon as we were on court, it was our happy place and we were focused on skillsets and game plans.”

She’s happy with the Ferns’ 2025 scorecard: winning the Taini Jamison series, almost retaining the Constellation Cup (losing a sudden-death play-off by two goals), then beating England 2-1 on their northern tour to end the year on a “massive” high.

Kate Heffernan (left) will play with and against Jamaican defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (right) this year. Photo / Adelaide Thunderbirds

This year’s campaign presents a different challenge, with no internationals for the Ferns before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July. “It’s a really important period,” Heffernan says. “We need to have things sorted so we can hit the ground running.”

Heffernan, who holds a degree in psychology, was able to take something positive from last year’s upheaval.

“It made me understand how different everyone is – how we respond and feel things differently. Everyone was feeling different emotions at different times,” she says. “It didn’t mean we weren’t united. While it was hard, it was a really valuable learning experience.”

It’s been 21 years since Annette Heffernan made her Silver Ferns debut against England, and two years later won the World Cup in Glasgow.

Today she’s “beyond proud” of her two daughters’ netball achievements. She and husband Noel try to attend every game although Kate’s move to Adelaide makes it trickier. They’ve booked their flights for her first two SSN games, including the season opener on March 14 against the Swifts, who feature Silver Ferns Grace Nweke and Gina Crampton.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity for a current Fern to be able to play in Australia. We’re really, really proud of Kate taking up this opportunity,” Annette says from her West Otago farm.

“Had they had this back in my day, I would have done it too. The key thing is that Kate is excited about the season, growing her game and bringing that back to the Silver Ferns environment.”

Annette acknowledges the courage it took for her daughter to carve a path separate from her twin. “It’s really brave. Unless you’re a twin, you can’t understand the connection they have. But it was too great an opportunity to turn down. She has our full family support, and we’ll be turning up for her when we can.”

Heffernan hopes Henry Bell will be able to fly to Adelaide during the Highlanders’ bye week in the Super Rugby season. He’s been fully supportive of his partner’s career move, having made a similar leap in 2023, playing for the Utah Warriors in US Major League Rugby. “He said I’d be silly not to go – he’s been so supportive,” she says. He’s also caring for her 2-year-old dog, Maple.

She’ll miss weekly trips with Georgia from Dunedin to Invercargill for Steel trainings. Georgia has moved south to be closer to the team, and the sisters speak often.

Kate is proud of how Georgia has returned from an ACL injury to become a crucial attacking option for the Silver Ferns.

“She’s had a more up-and-down netball journey, and I’ve learned so much watching her. After her nasty injury, she had to find her confidence in the pretty brutal position of goal attack. Watching the way she went about it last season was really cool – in the deciding England test she took her game to a whole other level. Mum, dad and I had never seen her play like that.

“We’re each other’s biggest fans.”

Meeting new people through the Thunderbirds and coaching at Adelaide schools is important to Heffernan, who’s also using this time to consider what she’ll do apart from netball.

“Yes, I miss home, but I realise I’ve got to make it worth it – there’s nothing worse than sitting here, missing home, and not getting what I want out of it. So that’s a good wee driver,” she says.

She might even reward herself with one of those giant meringues at her new local bakery.

New Zealanders playing in Suncorp Super Netball 2026

Adelaide Thunderbirds: Kate Heffernan

Giants: Jane Watson, Whitney Souness

NSW Swifts: Grace Nweke, Gina Crampton

Queensland Firebirds: Kelly Jackson, Maddy Gordon, Te Paea Selby-Rickit (and coach Kiri Wills)

Sunshine Coast Lightning: Karin Burger

This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.