Dana Johannsen: Last year's transtasman issues haunt series again

Dana Johannsen

There is a strong sense of deja vu about the issues that have arisen after the opening rounds of the ANZ Championship.

The dominance of the Australian sides, differences in umpiring interpretations between the two countries and concerns over the uneven nature of the draw were hot topics in last year's inaugural season.

It is disappointing that after one and a quarter seasons the Kiwi sides still haven't found a way to win in Australia - short of drilling holes in the stadium roof and praying for the heavens to open, that is.

I don't buy into the argument that winning across the Tasman has become a mental hurdle for the New Zealand sides. Nor do I believe travel-weariness is a significant factor in the Kiwi teams' embarrassing record on Australian soil.

What it comes down to is the failure of New Zealand teams to cope with the intensity of the Australian style of defence and the way the game is officiated over there. The Australian players are extremely fit and fast and, with their tight man-on style of marking, make their opposition work hard for every ball.

This makes them a handful at any time, but particularly on their own soil where the differences in umpiring interpretations come into play. Without getting too technical, Australian umpires seem to favour more of a defensive game, with a tendency to let a lot more contact and obstructions go and allowing for greater contesting of the ball.

New Zealand teams simply aren't making the necessary adjustments when they play in Australia and find themselves swamped by the oppressive nature of the Aussie defence. The players need to learn to deal with this better.

They need to maintain strong and upright body positioning, do more work off the ball to create space and drive hard on to the ball - all of these are fundamentals of the game over in Australia, but alarmingly, some of these basic skills appear to be lacking among some of our top players.

The only way for the New Zealand teams to put this into practice is to have more experience playing in Australia, which is why moving to a double round is a must if the Kiwi sides are going to benefit from the ANZ Championship.

There are conspiracy theories that claim the one-and-a-half-round draw was devised as it is the only way New Zealand sides would have a chance of making the top four. The same people claim netball bosses on this side of the Tasman will block any efforts to move to a double-round draw.

But I have yet to speak to a coach, player or administrator from the five New Zealand franchises that doesn't want to see the competition expanded to two full rounds. Unfortunately any change in the competition structure is unlikely to occur until after 2010.

Which means we can get used to that feeling of deja vu.