Her home has ranged from Christchurch to Scotland.
She has been on teams that have languished, ones that have dominated and ones that have pulled off major upsets — some which may still cause southern fans a little pain. So those fans will certainly feel blue looks best on Ellen Halpenny.
The well-travelled veteran turned more than a few heads on Sunday as she emerged for the Southern Steel in Auckland.
She has joined the side as a replacement for injured shooters Jennifer O’Connell and Georgia Heffernan.
Coach Reinga Bloxham admitted after the game the shooter, who turns 30 on Saturday, had been in the back of her mind for a few weeks.
It was just a case of fitting in with Halpenny’s work schedule in her new job as a police officer in Tokoroa.
Her influence was key after being injected in the third quarter in Sunday’s 41-40 win over the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic — just the Steel’s second.
She provided a cool head and shot a perfect nine from nine in her comeback game, before playing three quarters in Monday’s loss to the Mainland Tactix.
If the shooting circle was in need of experience, the Steel could hardly have found a better pick-up.
She began her top-level career at 17 as a foundation member of the Mainland Tactix in 2008.
After five years, in which the Tactix battled towards the bottom of the transtasman league, she relocated to the Magic.
She spent four years there and was part of the side which upset the unbeaten Steel in the 2016 transtasman semifinal in Invercargill.
That stint also included seven tests for the Silver Ferns, including winning silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
In 2017, she turned out for the Scotland Sirens in England’s Super Netball.
A year later, she returned to turn out for the Northern Stars.
Again she was part of a heartbreaking loss for the Steel last year, being in squad that upset the southerners in the elimination final.
The side was beaten by the Central Pulse in the final, which was followed by Halpenny retiring and beginning her police career.
She has now stepped into a Steel team in a tough situation.
With six games left, the final is very much a long shot for the team, which is tied on 10 points with the Magic at the bottom of the table.
It next plays the Northern Mystics in Auckland on Sunday.
