Tuivaiti tore her ACL in July 2017, shortly after signing to play with the Adelaide Thunderbirds for the 2018 season.
Following 11 months of rehabilitation Tuivaiti played four games for the Southern Force in June.
Tuivaiti said she was overwhelmed after being told by head coach Dan Ryan that she would be in the squad of 10 for this week’s game.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry a little bit when Dan told me I was in the 10,” she said.
“The game on Sunday scares me, but I’m also excited, really relieved and really happy. Every type of emotion there is, I’m feeling it.”
When she takes to the court for the Adelaide Thunderbirds, Tuiviati hopes to show Australian netball fans and players something they haven’t seen before.
“I think I add something different, not only what the Thunderbirds haven’t had access to before, but netball in Australia hasn’t seen. I play a completely different netball brand,” she said.
Throughout the rehabilitation journey, Tuivaiti said there were moments when she considered giving up.
“Not throwing it in has been the hardest part,” she said.
“I was living in Adelaide, and I couldn’t do that one thing that I had come here to do and that was to play netball.
“This was my first serious injury and it’s an injury that really set me back. When I did my ACL, Netball New Zealand had just let me go and I was coming to play in Australia for the first time, where I don’t have any family. All of those things really weighed on me and the made rehabilitation even tougher.”
Over the rehabilitation journey, Tuivaiti named her family and the club’s physiotherapist Scott Smith and strength and conditioning coach Aden O’Sullivan as the key people who helped her to be able to play.
“My family and my husband constantly reminded me that I could allow myself to have moments of anger and sadness, but encouraged me to carry on, because I came to Adelaide to prove I could overcome this injury,” she said.
“Since I have been at the Adelaide Thunderbirds, Scott has caught me crying more than anyone and he’s had every single emotion thrown at him.
“Throughout the entire journey he has been a strong voice of reason and he’s been someone I can trust because I knew, he knew what was best for me.
“Aden has been the key to getting me physically ready to play. Both guys understand me, my personality and they’re seriously the reason why I get to play.”
Tuiviaiti played 30 Tests for Samoa and 24 for the Silver Ferns.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds’ full squad of 10 to play the Magpies will be announced later this week.
– by Adelaide Thunderbirds
