November 28, 2003

It is easy to be a Rhonda Hira fan because she plays softball like it should be played, with speed, zest and style.

But now there is no one to take her place as injury takes her out of the game after 20 international years. Jackie Smith, Fiona Timu and Kalala Faalogo all have the spark, but no one has the all-round game of Rhonda.

Anyone at the International Stadium in Rotorua for the 1989 women's interprovincial series during that one brief fine spell in our wettest summer saw her brilliance and will never forget the speed between bases, the quick thinking and the audacity she showed.

Always prepared to talk to softball fans and the press, Rhonda had something different about her and success followed wherever she played, whether with Hawkes Bay, Hutt Valley or Canterbury.

Although she needs time to think about things since her ankle injury ended her career, softball could do with someone like her to drive things along in the women's game. Dean Rice, her male equivalent, is doing it in his White Sox role. Rhonda will be the same.

What a player. One of the best in the world and a candidate for the top female player in New Zealand softball history.