Netball: Winning's still name of game

The Fastnet Ferns won last year's tournament. Photo / Vaughn Ridley / SWPIX.COM

The squad has been named but there seems some conjecture about just how the Fastnet Ferns will approach the upcoming netball tournament in England.

New Zealand have won the last two tournaments but have been criticised for not entering into the spirit of the competition. Fastnet brings in several rule innovations, like rolling substitutions and two-point shooting, but the Ferns have tended to favour 'normal' netball on the way to the title.

This time new coach Wai Taumaunu is hoping for the same result but for it to be achieved in a different way.

"We have played the game how we play a normal one hour game and have copped some criticism for that," says Taumaunu. "New Zealand teams have been quite set in their line-ups compared with other sides; this time I hope to see all the players play as much as possible and intend to make full use of the substitution rules."

Taumaunu certainly has the luxury of a stacked lineup, with 10 members of the Silver Ferns in the team, including stars like Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia - especially compared with last year's youthful team, when all frontline Ferns opted out of the trip.

Robyn Broughton was coach of that side and warns that adapting to the rule innovations is a lot easier said than done.

"The rolling subs are fine in theory but it can be very hard to get their attention when they are out there," says Broughton. "The six minute quarters fly by and it is just not practical to make too many changes. Especially in the latter games - you are still playing for a world championship after all."

"I think our approach will be the same," says Netball New Zealand high performance director Tracey Fear.

"The team will only assemble the day before we fly out and there is no time to practice the new rules. Other sides have more exposure to [Fastnet Netball]."

The two-point shooting option seemed a great idea when it was announced- it is certainly popular throughout indoor netball in this country - but has not been an important factor over the last two years at the Fastnet tournament.

It is mainly because the shot, made from outside the circle, is restricted to shooters, which leaves the chance of an offensive rebound almost impossible as two defenders guard the remaining shooter under the hoop.

A more sensible option would be to allow midcourters to shoot, or allow one of the midcourters to enter the shooting circle and compete for a rebound.

Another rule which is yet to have an effect is the power play, where points scored by a team within a quarter are doubled. Teams have tended to shadow each other, with both nominating the same period for the bonus.

A worthwhile alteration could be to insist that opposing sides have to use their power plays in different quarters, which would see teams have scoring runs at different times.