KEY POINTS:
England netball captain Amanda Newton arrived in Auckland last night, proudly defying doubters who said she would never play at a world championship again.
The 30-year-old defender, who had to learn to walk after her knee was rebuilt, is back for a third world tournament and more confident than ever of returning home a world champion. Newton and her single-minded English side are still on a high from May's victory over the Silver Ferns - their first in more than three decades.
Their confidence is obvious - turning down a warm-up match against the Ferns this week, saying they would "wait until the final".
Victory in Auckland would be a glittering crown atop Newton's painstaking comeback. She ruptured a cruciate ligament in her knee soon after the disappointment of finishing fourth at the 2003 world championships, and over the next 18 months underwent surgery three times to try to fix the knee that refused to heal.
"Everything I did put me back to square one - it was the worst time of my life," Newton said. "Everybody doubted whether I'd play again, and I didn't realise it. I never thought I wasn't going to make it, I was always coming back."
Newton worked alongside the English squad during her rehabilitation with team physios.
It took 22 months before she made it back on court, missing the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but she was rewarded for her determination with the English captaincy in November last year.
Newton was at the helm of the English side who beat the world champions by five goals this year, a win she says has done wonders for their confidence.
"Before then, when we'd played the top countries we were scared. Scared that we wouldn't be able to perform to our best," she said. "Suddenly all our hard work paid off."
Fortnightly national training weekends and exposure to top competition every week in England's new Superleague has put the side in the reckoning with New Zealand and Australia, Newton believes.
"Playing competition week in week out, you understand you've got to be more consistent. That's what affected our performance years ago. We're a lot more consistent now; we can keep in touch with the best."
Newton, a part-time netball coach at Chigwell public school outside London, is certain this is England's year to shine.
"I think we're ready - but it's about time we were ready, we've been preparing for years now. We've worked hard, and trained hard - as hard as New Zealand and Australia. We see it as our opportunity now."
If all goes according to plan, England should meet eight-time world champions Australia in the semifinals.
If they do, in fact, meet the Ferns in the November 17 final, they know better than to assume they have the upper hand.
"You can't underestimate New Zealand," said Newton. "Their team has youth, and they bring so many different elements, so many styles. We respect them hugely."
