Netball: Silver Ferns full of nerves and anxiety

Silver Ferns player Jodi Brown. Photo / Alan Gibson.

Nerves and anxiety in the Silver Ferns camp has had a telling impact on performances at trials this week as Waimarama Taumaunu prepares to name her World Cup line-up tomorrow.

It is hard to remember a time when there were more contestable spots in the national side, with several veterans facing strong competition to retain their place from a bunch of young stars coming through the ranks.

Veteran Silver Fern shooter Jodi Brown, who is one of six players chasing four shooting positions, rates this week's trials as the most tense she has been involved in over her 14-year international career.

"It's definitely uneasy times, which is good and bad I guess," said Brown.

"Given our results last year and the rise of some youngsters that have really impressed this year, bar a couple, there's not really any players that are safe - we're all pretty much sitting on edge at the moment."

Along with the battle for spots in the shooting circle, seven midcourters are fighting it out for potentially only three spots, depending on whether the selections opt to overload the defensive end. Whichever positional split the selectors choose, those numbers all mean there will be a lot of disappointing players come tomorrow. Taumaunu said that reality has clearly been playing on the minds of the players during the trial matches, with some producing wobbly performances in this morning's trials.

The players will have one last chance to impress selectors in the Probables v Possibles match this afternoon, and Taumaunu is hoping those involved with that match will leave nothing out on court.

"There is some anxiety here, so I think people have come here intending to put good performances out but as time runs out and the opportunity to impress runs out the nerves do increase. I don't know that people will look back on this morning's run with great happiness because there were a couple who let themselves down this morning, but they've got this afternoon," Taumaunu said.

"Putting them under that sort of pressure and making them play against people they are clearly in opposition with for positions in the team is about putting them under the sort of stress that a pinnacle event requires."

Taumaunu said the selectors have settled on about eight positions in the 12-strong team for the Sydney tournament, leaving four positions up for grabs in this afternoon's final trial match.