Netball: Ferns looking good for next Games

The Silver Ferns are back home after a convincing tri-series win over Jamaica and Barbados in Jamaica.

The Ferns won the final, thrashing Jamaica 67-32 in a match where all 12 players took to the court at some stage.

A very happy coach Ruth Aitken says the problem they now face is a lack of netball in New Zealand in the build up to the March Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The players will continue with individual programmes, and will meet up with each other in their respective islands each week.

Aitken says the team will have to maintain their own momentum, before they re-group in January, and she is planning a trip to Australia in February for some practice matches before the Games.

She names her squad for the Commonwealth Games at the end of the month and while she is impressed with the various combinations, she is keeping any thoughts to herself.

Meanwhile, Games certainty, Irene van Dyk is hailing another dominant performance from the Silver Ferns.

Van Dyk, who was not overjoyed at spending time on the bench, says new shooting combinations were tested, and that it is exciting to be part of a team with such great depth.

She says it must be a huge relief for a coach to have just as good a bench, as a starting seven.

- NEWSTALK ZB