KEY POINTS:
Rival netball coaches Sue Hawkins and Ruth Aitken continue their quest to second guess each other one last time as England and New Zealand meet in tomorrow's three-test series decider here.
In Auckland last Monday, the Aitken-coached Silver Ferns demolished a hapless England 65-26, dominating an England team
which lacked structure, cohesion and motivation.
Australian-born Hawkins' description of it as a "smacking" was cruelly accurate.
But the measure of both Hawkins as a coach, and her players' resilience, came through in Dunedin on Wednesday when the English rebounded with grit and style to upset a suddenly rudderless New Zealand 40-38.
In Palmerston North today, both coaches were relishing the chance to do battle again in a series which has delivered some class netball from both teams, although never in the same game.
Aitken said New Zealand's focus in the few days since the Dunedin loss had been simple.
"We've been making sure we get over the disappointment and look ahead to what we're going to do instead of looking back on what we didn't do.
"Each and every player was disappointed, the coaching staff were as well, but now it's about making sure we're clear on the game plan and making sure we execute it well."
Aitken wouldn't be drawn on her potential line-up for Saturday night, but it seems likely Laura Langman will be back at wing attack from the first whistle.
Irene van Dyk, played at goal attack regularly in recent tests, could well return to goal shoot while Maria Tutaia would be a good chance to start at goal attack.
Whoever starts, Aitken said the game plan was clear.
"We've got to put more pressure on right through the court. (In Dunedin) England used a lot of short passes and cuts to get the ball to the circle edge - they played very intelligently.
"We hung off them and gave them a bit too much room. Our wing attack and goal attack need to put that pressure on right from the start"
Aitken said it was crucial to make sure the Silver Ferns game was well-paced and maintained structure.
"I think we've got to make sure our court is really well balanced because we got all jammed together like bees around a honey pot on Wednesday."
She said although the team had talked about the dangers of complacency after last Monday's huge win, "I suppose talking about it and actually taking it into the game are two different things".
"There've been a lot of emotional highs and lows in the last week for both teams, so the resilience factor will come into it - fitness and mental fortitude will really come to the fore."
England may have caught New Zealand off-guard in their second test ambush, but as Hawkins said: "That's not our fault."
So has England lost any chance at a series win now the surprise factor has disappeared?
"No, because we've got a few more tactics we've thought about collectively as a group and we're ready to jump again," Hawkins said.
"I'm really impressed with the ticker of these girls, I'm inspired."
Hawkins is relishing the thrust and counter-thrust of tactics between teams in the three-test series.
"Netball's not a hard game - we need to go out and play smarter than they'll come out.
"Ruth's a tactician and so is Wai (Taumaunu, Silver Ferns' assistant coach) - they'll be dissecting what we did to counteract what they did and we now need to do that.
"It's a cat and mouse game, it really is. That's the nature of coaching - you try to work out what they did to you, then you try to work out what they're anticipating to do."
Hawkins was reluctant to try and anticipate the Silver Ferns line-up for tomorrow.
"I honestly believe they'll look at the reshuffling of their positioning but that's not our worry, our worry is about what we're doing. It doesn't matter what team they put out - we're going to counteract them and go for it."
The former Auckland Diamonds coach backs her players to the hilt, and - unusually for netball - stuck with the same seven for the entire Dunedin match.
Chances are, with the Geva Mentor-Sonia Mkoloma-Ama Agbeze defensive mix in destructive form, and midcourters Jade Clarke and Karen Atkinson delivering quality ball for shooters Louisa Brownfield and Pam Cookey to sink, Hawkins won't mess with a winning combination.
"If they're strutting their stuff out there, and they're working really hard, why change it?"
- NZPA
