Better infrastructure provides a boost on several fronts
The opening five rounds of the transtasman league have been a tale of woe for the New Zealand teams.
The Kiwis are being outclassed week after week in the ANZ Championship and there is widespread frustration among fans as to why after three years in the competition, our teams don't seem to be making any headway into Australia's dominance.
There is not one simple explanation for New Zealand's continual struggles in the transtasman league. There are a wide range of factors that contribute and the problem extends far beyond the individual franchises themselves.
What has become increasingly clear after two and a bit seasons of the league is that it is the infrastructure that underpins Australian netball that gives them the competitive edge.
Greater depth
Australia does, and always will, enjoy greater player depth than New Zealand. When you consider there are more registered players in Victoria alone than in our entire country, the numbers will always be stacked in Australia's favour. But it is the way this talent is developed and nurtured where the real gulf exists.
Australian netball has long benefited from their very well-run and well-funded state academy programmes, which groom players from a very young age. Kids as young as 13 and 14 are identified as players of the future and put into these academy programmes, where they learn what it takes to be a professional athlete.
In New Zealand young players selected for ANZ Championship teams are not always prepared for the step up to elite netball.
The players don't have a full appreciation of the level of commitment and training intensity needed until they are thrust into the environment. In her weekly column in a Brisbane newspaper this week, former Queensland Firebirds coach Vicki Wilson hit out at the "huge difference in the calibre" between the Australian and New Zealand athletes.
"Simply put, the majority of NZ players, the Silver Ferns excluded, are unable to maintain intensity and pressure for a full game," Wilson wrote.
"There are two reasons. Firstly, too many substandard athletes are slipping through the cracks. And secondly, a large percentage are not fit enough for this level of contest."
Netball New Zealand high-performance manager Tracey Fear said the national body was reviewing their development pathways to ensure top young players are better prepared for the elite environment.
"Our challenge is to be a lot smarter about the way we do identify and develop talent," said Fear.
"We are reviewing our pathway ... we're just trying to ensure that at a regional level the high-performance programmes that are being put in place there are at the level they need to be to help develop the talent that is out there in the region."
Competitions
Another key reason behind Australia's impressive depth is the intense competition provided for the players in the tier below the transtasman league.
At the time of the advent of the ANZ Championship, Australia also introduced a new Australian Netball League (ANL) to act as a feeder competition running parallel to the ANZ Championship. Below that they have highly competitive state leagues, which again prepare talented players for the step up to the next level.
Australia's development pathways are clear and well-defined, whereas New Zealand's competition structure is much less streamlined.
The Lois Muir Challenge was introduced to provide up and coming players with further development opportunities. But this competition is only one month long and it is up to the individual regions as to what level team they enter. Some regions have taken a purely development approach, entering under-21 teams, while others selected their top provincial team.
Likewise the Perry Foundation National Champs, held every September, does not provide the level of competition needed to prepare players for the step up. Former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering believes the provincial championships is in need of major revitalisation.
"They used to be a huge thing with a lot of pride - everyone followed the provincial champs. But that's lost some of its mana now."
Coaching/technical support
New Zealand is also lagging behind in terms of coaching depth. There simply is nowhere to hide in the ANZ Championships and many Kiwi coaches have been exposed in terms of strategy and technical expertise.
The Australian franchises leave no stone unturned in their preparation. Part of the problem is that a lot of the Australian franchises are much-better resourced than their New Zealand counterparts. Willering believes NZ coaches need to be more resourceful.
"I think the resources are available through different sports academies throughout New Zealand, but it's really about a question as to how well utilised they are," said Willering.
Fear said Netball New Zealand recognised the need to develop coaching depth and believed there were a strong crop of coaches coming through, including former Silver Ferns Julie Seymour and Belinda Colling.
"The same way we've identified a big group of players in terms of who will be the Silver Ferns of the future, we've also needed to identify a number of coaches that we can support and assist with their professional development."
