How Silver Fern Mila Reuelu-Buchanan rebounded from sickening knee injury
Saturday, 19 April 2025
Even in the most challenging chapter of her netball career, Silver Fern Mila Reuelu-Buchanan tried to avoid getting downcast.
The 13-test international is poised to make her long awaited return for the south Auckland-based Stars in their ANZ Premiership opener against the crosstown Mystics on May 11 – Reuelu-Buchanan’s 27th birthday.
For someone who had never had a serious injury, it was horrific stuff for the agile midcourter.
Reuelu-Buchanan suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a torn meniscus, a partial tear of her medial collateral ligament (MCL), a partial tear of her calf, and a small fracture. In her words, she could not have done a better job destroying her knee.
Ten months on, she is close to taking the court again, targeting a quarter (15 minutes) in the Stars’ final pre-season game against the Magic on April 30. If everything goes smoothly, she is hopeful of half a game in the Stars’ first competition game 11 days later.
Booked in for surgery with leading knee orthopaedic surgeon and former All Black Jeremy Stanley, Reuelu-Buchanan made a scary situation light-hearted.
She wrote a post on Instagram, farewelling her left knee, and even asked Stanley to make sure the scar looked aesthetically pleasing.
“I sent my [Instagram] story to Jeremy and he was giggling. After my surgery he took his time and stitched up my knee. It’s a really nice-looking scar.”
After a breakout 2023, where Reuelu-Buchanan attended the Netball World Cup in Cape Town as a travelling reserve and finished the year as the Ferns’ first-choice wing attack, she could have easily wallowed in self-pity after her injury.
Despite not being able to make an impact on court, Reuelu-Buchanan attempted to make a positive from the most difficult time in her career.
“The big lesson through this journey is netball is not my whole identity. I am Mila Reuelu-Buchanan not just the netballer, but everything else in between.
“I’ve really enjoyed navigating my life outside of it, but I’ve also got a new passion for the game, coming back into the environment. I’ve absolutely loved it. There’s so many amazing lessons you can take from an injury like this, aside from the challenges you experience throughout it.”
Reuelu-Buchanan was often told there would be dark days through her long recovery, but surprisingly said they were minimal.
She put that down to her upbeat attitude and personality, wanting to focus on how she could become a better netballer, even without being able to touch a ball or step on court.
An astute thinker of the game, she helped out former Stars head coach Kiri Wills from the sideline in games and at training over the rest of the season.
Her motto with her rehabilitation was slow and steady and trying not to compare herself to other netballers and how quickly they had come back from similar knee injuries.
“I think the biggest achievement for me will not be how quickly I come back. My biggest achievement will be ensuring there are no long-term injuries – preventing knee injuries happening again.”
Returning for a seventh season with the Stars, Reuelu-Buchanan’s game should only benefit from working with new coach Temepara Bailey, one of the greatest midcourters in Silver Ferns history. Bailey was Stars assistant coach in Reuelu-Buchanan’s first season with the team in 2019, but ended up stepping out of retirement aged 43 to play for them after a raft of midcourt injuries.
Reuelu-Buchanan’s rock
Integral to getting Reuelu-Buchanan through the mental anguish of her injury was her partner, Hurricanes co-captain and loose forward Du’Plessis Kirifi.
Porirua-raised Reuelu-Buchanan and Kirifi are building a new home in the Wellington suburb of Miramar and share similar sporting journeys.
Reuelu-Buchanan had to wait for her opportunity in the Silver Ferns’ midcourt, the most congested area of the court in the country, debuting in 2022.
Kirifi has enjoyed his finest season in Super Rugby Pacific, shining for the Hurricanes with his leadership, defensive toughness, and strong carrying skills. He has been so impressive there have been calls for first-time selection in the All Blacks this year, having captained the All Blacks XV in Europe in November.
“It always helps having a partner who is supportive and who encourages you and wants the best for you, but also with someone who knows at that deeper level with him being an athlete and understanding what it takes to play and perform in a high performance environment. We lean on each other for everything.
“I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from his work ethic, professionalism, leadership on the field, his resilience as well. Clarky [Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw] said to him one day I want you to be a player that’s 10 out of 10 days, not nine out of 10, and he took that upon himself. You can see that in his game now.”
Among the best interviews in New Zealand netball, Reuelu-Buchanan has firm views on most things to do with the sport.
Change in the air in NZ netball
She backed Netball New Zealand’s bold decision to introduce the two point ‘Super Shot’ into the ANZ Premiership for the first time this season.
The ANZ Premiership has taken a different approach to Australia and England’s domestic competitions with shooters needing to be least 3.5m away from the goalpost for the two point shot (as with the Fast5 shortened version). In those other competitions it is 3m. The ‘Super Shot’ is active in the final five minutes of each quarter.
Unlike past seasons, the ANZP will also be played over a condensed two full round format (down from three full rounds) with sides playing 10 round games, rather than 15.
“It gets to a point where the sport can get a little bit boring and you’re playing the same teams over and over. For us we want to continue to keep everyone engaged and I think this two point shot couldn’t have come at a better time. It is exciting. It brings something different to the game.”
In a Stars’ pre-season match against the Magic, they led by nine goals going into the final five minutes. Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio shot the lights out for the Magic from the ‘Super Shot’ zone to lift them back into the contest. Previously a nine goal margin would have been almost impossible to pull back that late.
“The crowd was going nuts. Anyone would think it was a grand final. It will make people want to come back because of how exciting it is. If that’s the energy we get in a pre-season game I can’t wait to see what the season looks like for us.”
ANZ Premiership netballers, coaches, and support staff remain unclear about how the domestic game will look in 2026 and whether they will all have contracts.
Multiple options are understood to be on the table, including the possibility of an Australian component, or maybe even a full Australian reunion. NNZ are also exploring broadcast deals with their contract with Sky finishing at the end of 2025.
“Still in the dark like everyone else. We’re just trusting everyone working behind the scenes to hopefully have something for us.
“Just hoping something comes from this. These are our careers and we just hope something will happen. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t. Netball is such a big sport in New Zealand. Hopefully we’ll know more soon.”