Dana Johannsen: Look beyond scoreline in opener

Irene van Dyk shouldn't spend too much time on the court tonight. Photo / Getty Images

In order to judge the success of the Silver Ferns' opening performance of the world championships tonight, you'll need to look beyond the scoreline.

Fiji, generously ranked fifth in the world thanks to an anomaly in IFNA's world rankings system, aren't expected to offer much resistance for the Ferns.

The sides have met five times in the past 36 years, and the closest Fiji have come to the Ferns is 43 goals (at the 1999 world championships in Christchurch). But whether New Zealand win by 30 goals or 70 goals, it doesn't really matter - a hiding is a hiding, and the Silver Ferns will have taken their first step to the semifinals.

What is important is that the Ferns ensure they are on track for a successful showing in the finals.

With six games in seven days, there is very little time in between matches to iron out any kinks.

These pool-play games are effectively the Ferns' training time before their big showdowns next weekend.

Ruth Aitken said with all her players anxious to hit the court, one of her main objectives tonight will be to get all 12 out on court.

"It would be nice to start with everyone on court. Because the players really just want to get out there, so it would be horrible for them if it's the first game and they're just twiddling their thumbs," said Aitken.

But it won't be a case of throwing players on willy-nilly.

Any changes will be carefully planned to ensure the frontline has time to gel, while the bench are given opportunities to gain confidence. It will be particularly important that Liana Leota, the Ferns' key midcourt cover, is given plenty of court time after a disappointing series against Australia last month.

The Ferns will also want to continue to address the "what-if?" scenarios against Fiji tonight.

Look for New Zealand to "underload" certain areas of the court, for instance, putting on their weakest shooting line-up of Paula Griffin and Anna Thompson but sticking with their top line-up through the rest of the court.

The aim would be to see how the rest of the team copes should the Ferns suffer the double blow of losing both their star shooters, Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia.

Likewise they may remove Temepara George and Laura Langman from the court at the same time, to see how the shooters manage without their regular feeders.