Opinion: If Janine Southby wants what's best for the Silver Ferns then she will step down as coach

Assistant coach Yvette McCausland-Durie (left) and coach Janine Southby's faces say it all as the Silver Ferns succumb to England at the Gold Coast Games yesterday. Photo/Photosport

Should the Silver Ferns go on to win a medal, never mind gold, at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, will the status quo remain?

Let's get more to the point — will New Zealand fans forgive and forget coach Janine Southby and her players for what has been a slow and painful deterioration of a super power to international mediocrity?

My hunch is, no. The Silver Ferns will not be able to duck behind the half slip of any euphoria of how much bling a "small country that is punching well above its weight" will lug back home next week in their duffel bags.

In fact, it's turning out to be an intriguing race between the national netballers and the equally embattled Wellington Phoenix soccer franchise in the A-League to see whose board and executives will act swiftly to arrest the problems.

To be fair, the Phoenix did send the last coach, Darije Kalezic, packing last month but, akin to the Silver Ferns, it's a case of where to next?

It seems Southby's tenure is untenable, regardless of what happens at the Gold Coast games where their medal playoff hopes rest on other outcomes.

She has been defiant, well before the Commonwealth Games campaign, in the face of overwhelming statistics that her experiments have been falling flat.

The 57-53 capitulation is hardly surprising. If anything it is further endorsement that everything isn't right in the Silver Ferns camp.

Asked if it was New Zealand netball's worst moment in history, she replied: "Look, I'm not even going there at this stage."

But Southby knows only too well she doesn't have a choice because the ticket to Malawi is booked, so to speak, so she'll have to pack her bags for that flight sooner or later.

Unlike former New Zealand rugby league counterpart David Kidwell, she will not have the luxury of time before falling on her sword.

Unless, of course, she has contractual obligations with Netball New Zealand that may buy her some time but this is where her passion for the sport comes under the spotlight.

If Southby truly believes that no one is bigger than the code then she'll do what is right for the team and country — that is, resign.

All the talk has been about the embarrassment and humiliation from the recent rash of losses to second-tier nations and the ensuing banter amid the Silver Ferns' worst defeat since netball was introduced to the games in 1998.

However, the purists will argue the emergence of the Malawis of today is crucial to netball becoming a sport that is worthy of commanding a global status rather than its fishbowl existence right now.

One wonders how Jamaica and Malawi have incrementally shifted gears to the higher echelons but South Pacific countries such as Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa are still floundering.

Gone are the days when the Silver Ferns can just rock up at a marquee event to sing and dance their way into a final with perennial favourites the Diamonds from Australia.

By the same token, to beat Scotland to keep one's medal hopes alive pretty much sums up why the board needs to look at all the potholes the Silver Ferns have encountered on the rocky road to the Gold Coast for a proper yardstick.

Despondency sets into the bench of the Silver Ferns as England beats them in netball at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday. Photo/Photosport

Isolation is the worst position to be in if teams harbour dreams of becoming powerhouses.

Netball NZ's decision to play the development card by bolstering its domestic structures, after Australia pulled the plug on the defunct ANZ Transtasman Championship, came across as noble.

In reality, the gesture was simply a case of pandering to disgruntled fans on a false sense of nationalistic fervour.

Sure, cultivating homegrown talent is imperative but it's equally essential to have platforms where players and teams can juxtapose their development against those of more formidable opponents.

Injecting young blood also isn't an escape clause for underachieving. The challenge for any team is to foster fresh talent and yet maintain that competitive edge and global presence.

I've said it before and I reiterate, the regime needs to revisit its policy of preventing players from plying their trade abroad, especially across the ditch, for fear of missing out on wearing the Silver Fern.

In many respects, that stance is just as inhibitive and draconian as the one Rugby League New Zealand had adopted in employing Kiwi-born mentors.

It's a shame that the Silver Ferns have had to undergo countless brand-damaging defeats on court for, what I suspect, will prompt an independent inquiry of NZRL proportions in getting to the bottom of the inertia that has taken hold of the code.

The Netball World Cup is not going to be staged in Liverpool, England, until July 12-21 so there's plenty of time to make some significant changes to be back in the top four position, if not become the champions.

After the 54-45 win over the New Zealanders yesterday, it's fair to say whoever assumes the mantle of coach, captain and players will have their work cut out.