Waikato shooter Margaret Forsyth made waves when gaining her first Silver Ferns selection in 1979, as a 17-year-old seventh former at Hillcrest High School, for the fourth Netball World Cup in Trinidad.

Forsyth’s name is indelibly linked with another rising shooting star of the time, Margharet Matenga, who had been selected the year before, the pair – dubbed the two Margs – forging the brilliant New Zealand shooting combination of the early 1980s.

The pair’s speed, vision, flair, instinct and calmness under pressure developed into the best shooting combination in the world at the time and reinvented the dynamism of the shooting circle.

A quality all-round sportswoman, Forsyth had a strong background in athletics and was a national title-holder in the pentathlon. But it was on the Netball court where she really shone.

Forsyth’s athletic ability was matched by her mental strength, high skill levels and unrelenting determination, making the strongly-built shooter a potent performer.

The dynamic Forsyth was a regular Silver Fern in teams selected between 1979 and 1987 during which she played in three world cups but battled significant injuries along the way.

After losing a close 1983 Netball World Cup to Australia, Forsyth played her role in a dominant Silver Ferns era, the peerless team of the time winning the World Games final in London in 1985 followed by the all-conquering 1987 team which outclassed all-comers to secure the coveted Netball World Cup title in Scotland.

Forsyth’s glittering career came to end in 1987, a degenerative knee condition forcing her retirement at just 27.