Netball: Ferns may be answer to Shakers' woes

The hapless Capital Shakers need to open their chequebook and buy some Silver Ferns if they are going to be a force in future National Bank Cups, says former Wellington netball star Julie Seymour.

Just days after the winless Shakers plumbed new depths with a five-goal loss to the Flyers in a wooden spoon clash, some former Wellington stars spoke today of the sadness at seeing the region in netball despair.

Seymour said if she was board chairman she would lean heavily on the sponsor, while former champion goalkeep and Shakers coach Tanya Dearns said she was staggered the Shakers had slipped to the extent they had.

The Shakers are at the bottom of the table with just one point from five games, an unacceptable return for the second biggest netball province in the country.

They finished second-to-last in 2004 and 2003.

"I wouldn't say what is happening at the Shakers is unacceptable, but they are caught in a difficult cycle where if you haven't done well the season before, you are not likely to recruit top players," Seymour said

"If it was me in charge I'd be trying to get a sponsor with a lot of money so they could offer things the top players can't resist. Look at the Sting. People don't travel to Invercargill for the climate. Players are going from Auckland to Invercargill and they are doing it for a reason."

Seymour, who spent seven seasons in Wellington between 1993 and 1998, said it was inevitable that prising away a couple of top internationals from another franchise would make other players think more favourably about the Shakers.

Former Shakers coach Dearns was lost when trying to explain their inability to be competitive.

Now working with the Flyers, Dearns felt a move by Netball New Zealand to pay the international players may help franchises recruit top players.

She said the amount of money players were getting was having a big impact on where they choose to go.

- nzpa