ENGLAND legend Geva Mentor insists she still has plenty to learn on her return to the Netball Super League.

The Bournemouth star is set to make her return to the UK’s top tier after 15 years plying her trade in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball league, where she cemented her status as one of the game’s best goal keepers.

The 39-year-old has signed for Leeds Rhinos ahead of the 2024 season, which gets underway on February 17, and revealed she is still looking to improve her game while also spreading some of the knowledge she picked up Down Under.

“I don’t just want to help those around me and make sure I am leaving it a better place but I want to keep evolving,” said Mentor, who won Commonwealth gold with England in 2018.

“I can still get better. Age obviously does play a part in your development but there are other areas that you can still improve on and that’s why I am still challenging myself, I still want to be part of it all and learn from those around me. I want to empower and inspire those around me but learn from those too.”

Mentor retired from international netball last summer after helping England to a first ever Netball World Cup final, where they eventually lost to Australia.

But the 175-cap international revealed she was not ready to fully hang up her dress after previous club Collingwood Magpies folded and is now ready to embrace a new life back home.

She added: “There is that natural transition from retiring from international netball last year and not wanting to go teetotal, making sure I still had some netball.

“I am winding myself down, I think it’s important for my own well-being and it just made sense to come back to the Super League. 

“It is great to be back on English soil for so many reasons. It has been 15 years playing out in Australia, I thought I was going to end up retiring and residing out there but now here I am in the Northern Hemisphere - it’s funny what love can do for you.

“I am excited to see what it will hold for me in terms of the difference since I was last here and to be up north, I am a southern girl through and through, from Bournemouth.

“I don’t think I have ventured up here too often but Leeds has been amazing, it is a beautiful city and Yorkshire is stunning, I have swapped the beaches for the countryside.”

Mentor returns to British shores at a pivotal time for the sport following England’s run to the World Cup final and the Netball Super League pushing towards professionalisation in the near future.

And she is confident the platform is now set for further success on both domestic and international stages.

She said: “The competitive beast in me was gutted that we couldn’t go all the way but I think in reflection what we were able to achieve, beating Australia in a round game, something we had never done before in a major tournament and setting ourselves up for an opportunity to win gold was huge.

“We are starting to embed that success and knowing that we are good enough, that is half the battle sometimes. We can compete on the court, it is about that mental edge.”

The start of the 2024 Netball Super League season takes place on February 17. For tickets go to the England Netball website.