Netball: Ferns will need to be resilient

Liana Barrett-Chase (above) and the Silver Ferns are expected to meet Australia in the final. Photo / Getty Images

As far as many fans are concerned, there is an inevitability about the netball at the Commonwealth Games.

Fierce rivals New Zealand and Australia have contested all three Commonwealth Games finals and it would be a big surprise if they were not battling it out for gold in the fourth in Delhi.

Australia, ranked No 1 in the world and 2-1 winners in the inaugural Constellation Cup series last month, are the heavy favourites to reclaim the Commonwealth Games title after being upset on home soil four years ago.

But the beauty of tournament-style play, particularly in a tough and unpredictable environment like Delhi, is anything can happen in the one-off matches.

Preparedness and resilience are the keys to winning these big tournaments - something the Silver Ferns believe they have been building over the past 18 months.

Recent concerns over sanitary conditions in Delhi are nothing new for coach Ruth Aitken; for months she has been flagging the fact that, according to statistics, 20 per cent of the team will have health issues in India.

Injuries and player burnout are another big factor in tournaments - though Delhi at least offers the welcome and unusual respite of a day off between games.

This does mean, however, that players will need to stay mentally focussed for longer.

Aitken said that throughout the international season, and in their week-long camp in Auckland this month, the coaching and support staff had tried to ensure the players were given the tools to cope with the intensity of the tough schedule in Delhi.

She describes "overload" sessions where players have up to three trainings a day with weight training and skill sessions before they are unleashed on court in tough inter-squad battles where the defenders are given permission to give the attackers "plenty of stick".

While for many fans a New Zealand-Australia final is considered a given, Aitken cannot afford to be so dismissive. She rates both England and Jamaica as dangerous sides and a realistic threat of taking out the title, or at the very least causing an upset.

"We've talked a lot lately that it won't just be a two-horse race in Delhi and I think the reality will be that that will come true.

"Any four of the teams on any given day can do the business."

The two-pool draw structure means the Ferns will meet England in pool-play, while the Australians are drawn to play Jamaica in the early rounds. A slip up early on could cost the Ferns dearly in the finals and Aitken is leaving nothing to chance.

"England are our first big game in the round robin and it's played at 9.30 in the morning in Delhi, so needless to say some of our preparations have been nice early wake-up calls to do training matches at 9 in the morning."

England have enjoyed victories over Australia and New Zealand since the last Commonwealth Games, which supports coach Sue Hawkins' view that her squad have closed the gap on the top two nations.

Jamaica's results over the past few months would suggest they won't be in medal contention in Delhi, but the Sunshine Girls have a knack of pulling together all their big-name players for the pinnacle events.

Rejoining the team since their series of 20-plus goal hidings in New Zealand and Australia in August are inspirational captain and key playmaker Simone Forbes, and aggressive defenders Althea Byfield and Kasey Evering.