After making her Silver Ferns debut in 2008, Manawatu midcourter Liana Leota soon took her game to new levels.

Small in stature, Leota provided a dashing influence with her mercurial speed in covering large chunks of the court on attack and defence.

Able to play both wing attack and centre, Leota was at her best from the wing, her natural ball skills, ability to lose a defender and awareness of space making her a dangerous attacking weapon.

An astute feeder with the ability to find a gap, the pint-sized Leota was a key member of the Silver Ferns gold medal-winning run at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Taking a break for family reason in 2011, Leota made headlines in 2014 when making a comeback to elite Netball in the ANZ Championship for the Central Pulse just five weeks after the birth of her third child and regained selection for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Experienced under pressure, Leota was a determined and tenacious midcourter with the ability to change the pace of a game. Her sense of timing with circle edge feeds into the shooters was an instinctive asset and her natural ability made her a handful for opposing teams.