FOURTH TEST
Silver Ferns v Australia
Invercargill, 4pm tomorrow
When New Zealand netball captain Casey Williams talks about the need to "get a bit brutal", she is laying down a mental challenge rather that a physical one ahead of the fourth test against Australia in Invercargill tomorrow.
The Silver Ferns have had a patchy start to this year's busy international calendar as coach Ruth Aitken looks to the long-term goals of defending their Commonwealth Games gold medal next year and wresting the world title back off the Australians in 2010.
Two losses to a World 7 combination were followed by two wins, one against the World 7, the second over Australia.
However, the Diamonds have bounced back with two narrow wins in the past week, leaving Williams and the Silver Ferns on the back foot for the final tests of the five-match series in Invercargill and Auckland on Wednesday.
At 24, Williams has already amassed 36 caps for New Zealand, and is growing in confidence with her new role as captain.
A hugely talented and bloody-minded defender, she does not take kindly to any loss but will accept defeat if there are lessons to be learned from it. And the lesson taken from the two losses across the Tasman is straightforward: don't wait for something to happen - get out there and do it.
"The game is simple, but it's hard work," she said yesterday. "We need to go out there and make things happen, instead of going 'she might do this, or she might do that'.
"It's got to be 'I'm going to do this, you do that' - get a bit brutal."
That sort of change in mindset meant a proactive approach, Williams said. "We need to make things happen for ourselves, we need the urgency and the hunger right from the start.
"We can't expect to turn that on at halftime or in the last quarter. We need to be fired up, right from the start," she said.
She said flexibility was also important, with players needing to recognise if something was not working and taking responsibility to fix it.
"We know our starting points, we need plan A but we also need plans B, C and D. For example, we know what to do if something happens, but maybe if something else happens ... that sort of thing - having variety, but knowing exactly what the structure is."
Aitken signalled before the Silver Ferns' first game against the World 7 that 2009 would be about trying a range of different players in different combinations.
The New Zealand midcourt has been reshuffled around the return of Temepara George, with Laura Langman and Liana Barrett-Chase filling a variety of roles.
Shooters Irene van Dyk, Maria Tutaia, Paula Griffin and Anna Thompson have also been tested in a range of combinations, while at the defensive end Williams, Katrina Grant, Joline Henry and Larrissa Willcox have all been given a run.
Barrett-Chase, out with a calf strain since the first test against Australia, is back running but not expected to feature for the two New Zealand tests.
Bowden has also taken a back seat for the past couple of matches, with experienced defender Sheryl Scanlan being brought back into the mix after injury and Southern Steel utility Wendy Telfer making the squad as cover in a number of positions.
Williams admitted the constant change had been a challenge, but she said it was vital from a long-term perspective, if a little painful in the short term.
- NZPA
