Netball: Cup hopes hinge on confidence of shooters

Bailey Mes of New Zealand takes a pass. Photo / Getty Images

If there were ever a stark illustration of the challenges facing the Silver Ferns approaching next year's World Cup, it is this date: February 27, 1999.

That is the last time the Ferns beat Australia without the help of Irene van Dyk in the shooting circle.

For 15 years New Zealand's attacking strategy centred around capitalising on the South African import's freakish consistency and accuracy. In 121 meetings between the two transtasman rivals since competition began in 1938, the Ferns have just a 37 per cent winning record. During van Dyk's reign at goal shoot for the Ferns, that record improved to nearly 50 per cent (27/55) on the back of having a shooter that consistently shot in the 90s.

Since the veteran shooter's unexpected departure from the national team in the lead-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ferns have been left brutally exposed on attack.

It is an issue that has consumed the Silver Ferns brains trust this month as they search for strategies to improve the under-performing shooting end, which, with the exception of the van Dyk era, has historically been a weakness for New Zealand netball. A series of sobering reviews highlighted the New Zealand side's chances of success in next year's World Cup in Sydney hinge on a dramatic improvement in their shooting performances and clear thinking around selections.

"[16 years] kind of says it all doesn't it? So we've got some work to do," said New Zealand coach Waimarama Taumaunu.

"But I am confident [we can win the World Cup], I know that the rest of our game stacks up. But those two people in the [shooting] circle are so crucial and we just need to do more work with them and help them to be the people we need them to be."

The Ferns horror 2014 season, in which they followed up a humiliating 18-goal loss to Australia in the Commonwealth Games final with a 4-0 series loss to the Diamonds in the Constellation Cup, revealed the Kiwi side were hopelessly under-prepared for life without van Dyk. However, Taumaunu believes the team have made progress in building their shooting depth with injury to Maria Tutaia forcing further experimentation in the circle.

"If you take Irene and Maria away, which we've had to do currently [and in Irene's case permanently] I don't believe we've had the quality in the past that we have there now. The problem is we don't have them to come back in and rescue everybody again," said Taumaunu.

Rookie shooters Bailey Mes and transplanted Australian Ameliaranne Wells, both bench players at ANZ Championship level, have got solid court time against Australia and shown glimpses of promise. But consistency and accuracy remain a big challenge for them both.

Mes had some commanding performances in the goal circle in terms of her court play, but struggled to put the ball through the net.

The onus is now on Taumaunu and assistant coach Vicki Wilson to develop strategies to support the shooters. The former Australian international and the team's mental skills expert Dr Kylie Wilson are working on individualised shooting programmes for each of the shooters, developing strategies around match preparation and making practices more closely mirror match conditions.

Developing a stable of confident and accurate shooters isn't just crucial for next year's World Cup, it is key to the Ferns chances of enjoying competitive parity with Australia.