Netball: Ferns stay focused on defence of title

Silver Fern captain Casey Williams. Photo / Getty Images

The Silver Ferns refuse to let the last-minute dramas in New Delhi distract them from their goal of defending their Commonwealth Games title next month.

The Ferns left yesterday for Singapore, where they will spend a week acclimatising and fine-tuning their combinations before, provided they get the go-ahead from the NZOC, flying to Delhi on October 1.

Recent developments including the exposure of a substandard athletes' village and the increased risk of contracting dengue fever, along with concerns over security, have marred the build-up to what is a pinnacle event for the Ferns.

New Zealand captain Casey Williams admitted the past few days had been an anxious time with all the reports from India painting a dire picture of the conditions in Delhi.

"It has been pretty intense with all the news coming out," she said.

"I was feeling pretty isolated at home and sometimes you don't know what to make of it all. But now we're together as a group and you can feel their excitement, I feel pretty relaxed."

While there has been a string of high-profile withdrawals from the Games - albeit mainly overseas competitors - Williams said that at no stage had she considered pulling out.

"The only worry for me was that it would be called off, because it's such a big event for us and I wouldn't want it not to happen."

Williams said the team obviously had to be aware of the challenges they would face in Delhi so they go into the tournament with their eyes wide open. But she said they would not let those issues distract them from what they are there to do - defend their Commonwealth Games title.

She believes the team have spent a lot of time making sure they are resilient enough to cope with the unpredictable environment in Delhi.

"You can't possibly prepare for everything that could happen. I guess we have to expect the unexpected and be flexible so if something happens we don't stress out about it."

As well as making sure they are prepared for any off-court dramas, the Ferns also had to address concerns over their gameplan that emerged during a mixed international season.

Their 2-1 series loss to Australia earlier in the month raised questions over their composure and execution under pressure. Williams said the series had forced her side to look closely at how they could better respond to adversity in the heat of battle.

"If it had been smooth sailing to the Commonwealth Games we may not have have looked at ourselves as intensely as we should have. But I think we've learned a lot from the tests this season and that can only help us in Delhi."

While many teams were forced to delay their entry to Delhi as officials hurriedly try to bring the athletes' village up to scratch, the Ferns had always planned to fly in at the last minute after completing their build-up in Singapore.

The idea was to allow the team to acclimatise to the heat away from the chaos of Delhi, as well as get a good feel for the accommodation and venues in Singapore, which will host the world championships next year.

Coach Ruth Aitken said that after overloading the team in their four-day camp in Auckland last week, their trainings in Singapore would be "more about quality, not quantity".

"We do want to make sure that they are ready to go once we get into Delhi. Because the reality is just existing in Delhi is going to be really hard work, so we don't want to be going in there really fatigued - we want to be relatively fresh."