She has been grinding away during the past couple of years to secure a fulltime ANZ Premiership contract and has even had a stint with the Severn Stars in England.
After being a Southern Steel training partner, and replacement player, in the past, Namana was finally handed her first official contract this season and grasped the opportunity with two hands.
But just because she has finally reached her goal it does not mean her career has been put on hold.
Namana, 28, is still working 30 hours a week as a lawyer for the Maori Crown Relations — Te Arawhiti, which is based in Wellington, while she is in Invercargill.
After the Steel’s 54-46 loss to the Central Pulse last week, Namana stayed an extra couple of days in Wellington for work.
"I’m really lucky because my team, and my boss, allowed me to play netball as well," Namana said.
"It’s really cool that I’m able to do both jobs that I love."
That blend is proving a winner for Namana, who has been a standout for the Steel under the post in their opening three games.
She has only missed 11 goals — and shot 33 from 33 against the Northern Mystics — and the space she holds under the post, against some of the top Silver Ferns defenders, has been impressive.
But she was humble in her approach to why she had stood up.
"It’s the people around me that are really helping me.
"I definitely think it’s not just a solo thing, it’s definitely a team thing, and I think they’re making me look good.
"They’re trusting that I’ll get the ball, and they’re trusting me with the ball that they’re putting in, so I definitely think that I’m growing because of the people around me."
Having anchors in Shannon Saunders and Kate Heffernan out the front of her provided experience and stability, especially as she continued to grow as the first-choice shooter.
Her connection with Georgia Heffernan — who she had played with at the Southern Blast and for the New Zealand mixed team during a Cadbury series — was growing, and the duo were religious in doing their "homework" around what worked well and how they could change their game against each team.
Their shooter-to-shooter off-loads had burnt defenders so far, which came down to the trust they had between each other.
"The thing with Georgia and I is, we are probably the shortest shooters in the competition. We have to be quite smart about how we get the ball and use the ball," Namana said.
"We’ve kind of had to re-think and think outside the box of how we can do that.
"That was one of the things that we’ve looked at and we did that quite well against the Pulse, so just hoping that that continues."
Steel coach Reinga Bloxham has already praised her shooter for coming into the season fit and fresh, and much of that has to do with her stint in England last year.
Namana loved her time overseas where she was thrust out to goal attack at the Severn Stars, which helped elevate her game.
The Steel have grown across their games but they need another lift when they play the Northern Stars in Invercargill this afternoon to avoid their 22nd consecutive loss.
"It’s just about being courageous and being fearless because I think that once we got the lead [against the Pulse], we got a bit nervous and we kind of went away from our processes," Namana said.
"It’s just making sure that we stick to our processes.
"It should be a really good game . . . I’m really excited and I think we’re building in the right direction."
ANZ Premiership
The squads
Southern Steel: Jen O’Connell, Georgia Heffernan, Grace Namana, Shannon Saunders, Ivari Christie, Kate Heffernan, Renee Savai’inea, Abby Lawson, Jeante Strydom, Taneisha Fifita
Northern Stars: Maia Wilson, Summer Temu, Rahni Samason, Lisa Mather, Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, Kate Burley, Holly Fowler, Khanye-Lii Munro-Nonoa, Lili Tokaduadua, Emma Thompson
