Nathan Limm provides four reasons why the Silver Ferns are on track for glory when the Netball World Cup starts on July 28.
1) They have a blueprint
The New Zealand coaching group knows how to win a World Cup. The three pre-tournament camps - two in Auckland, one onthe Sunshine Coast - work off the same blueprint as their winning 2019 preparation. The camps will be used primarily to iron out strategy, with 163-cap veteran Laura Langman and former coaches Yvonne Willering and Jane Woodlands-Thompson to be brought in to help the players and critique the management. Dame Noeline Taurua has regularly used Willering as a sounding board for ideas and feedback in the past, making her a quasi-assistant coach.
2) Last year’s Constellation Cup
Although the Silver Ferns conceded the Constellation Cup to Australia in October, the series was a depth development project. Taurua operated with a dual-squad arrangement meaning some players were only selected for one leg of the competition. It meant - after winning the first two games - standout wing attack Peta Toeava was omitted from games three and four, disrupting what had proved to be a winning combination. Although they lost the series on goal percentage, Taurua was keeping the bigger picture in mind, expanding her options ahead of their title defence. That’s proved the right call given how hotly contested the Ferns’ midcourt spots have become. Besides, it doesn’t hurt having an axe to grind and a few more players having experienced the hurt of losing to the Diamonds.
Peta Toeava takes the ball during the Constellation Cup series against Australia. Photo / Photosport
3) Jane Watson and Karin Burger have had an ANZ Premiership season together
The Tactix’s recent three-game slump aside, the defensive pairing of Jane Watson and Karin Burger have for the most part looked impenetrable in the ANZ Premiership. Their growing combination in red will be hard for Taurua to split up when they don the black dresses in Cape Town. Kelly Jury would be the only other likely contender to slide in at goal keep, but that would probably just push Watson to goal defence and Burger to wing defence, thereby keeping the duo together.
Jane Watson of the Tactix. Photo / Photosport
4) England are down on confidence
While the structure of pool play at the World Cup is unnecessarily messy and confusing, the crux of it is that New Zealand are odds-on to face either England or Australia in the semifinal. Should the Silver Ferns beat Jamaica and finish top of their group, the Roses are the more likely team blocking their path to the big dance. But England are nowhere near the team that beat the Silver Ferns on home turf in September 2021. The Roses have won only three of their last 10 tests, with two of those wins coming against Uganda. New Zealand thumped England by 10 goals in January’s Quad Series.
