KEY POINTS:
After a period of Australian dominance in transtasman netball, the Silver Ferns continue to set about redressing the balance, shaking off a rocky start to overwhelm the Diamonds in Melbourne last night.
The Ferns picked up from where they left off in their 38-31 win over Australia in Auckland earlier this year, with the rookie Diamonds side struggling with their accuracy and execution in the face of a swarming defensive effort.
After a wildly fluctuating series against the English earlier in the month, the tour of Australia was expected to provide a more accurate gauge of the Ferns' development this season. Based on yesterday's performance the New Zealand coaching staff would feel very comfortable with where the side sits in terms of their four-year plan between world championships, particularly given they were missing a great deal of experience.
But the Ferns will need to consolidate with another strong performance in the second test in Brisbane next Sunday to shake off the tag of being an inconsistent side.
While much has been made of the inexperience in the Australian lineup, with the average age of the Diamonds just 24, New Zealand were also forced to field a very young side, with captain Julie Seymour (injury) and Leana de Bruin (personal reasons) ruled out of the match.
Newcomer Liana Barrett-Chase, who has only been in the Ferns line-up for a week, earned her first cap after coming on at wing-attack in the second quarter. It was somewhat of a baptism of fire for Barrett-Chase, but the diminutive midcourter stood up extremely well in the face of fierce Australian defence.
Barrett-Chase's injection into the game coincided with a strong fightback from the Ferns, who found themselves down 15-7 at the first break after a slow and sloppy start to the match.
New Zealand assistant coach Waimarama Taumaunu believes the ugly start was a result of the 3:15pm start time, with the current crop of Ferns players having never played afternoon tests.
"Frankly it took us too long to get our bearings," said Taumaunu. "This time of the day is usually a rest time for the girls so we were aware it could be an issue, and we did work on ways to overcome that, so we were disappointed with the way they opened the match."
Taumaunu also believes her side struggled to adjust to the physicality of the Australians in the early stages of the match, having come off a three-test series against the English.
But the Ferns assistant was delighted with the way her side were able to claw their way back and then take control. One criticism of the Ferns in recent times has been their inability to dig themselves out of a hole if they find themselves bogged down early in the match. They've been able to turn around poor performances from one week to the next, but up until now haven't demonstrated the ability to turn their fortunes during a match.
"We're just thrilled that after such a terrible start we didn't let the scoreline blow out allow Australia to run away with it," said Taumaunu.
The brilliant Australian defence got inside the heads of the Ferns almost from the opening whistle, with the Diamonds' back trio of Bianca Chatfield, Mo'onia Gerrard and Julie Prendergast spoiling possession after possession for the Ferns in the opening spell.
With the Ferns struggling to find their feet on attack Australia took a 15-7 lead at the first break, prompting New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken to go to her bench. Steel defender Katrina Grant was brought on at goal-defence in place of Sheryl Scanlan, who was far too expensive in the opening spell, while Barrett-Chase was handed her first cap, coming on at wing-attack for Maree Bowden.
The changes seemed to have the desired effect, with Barrett-Chase providing much more punch and drive on attack to give the Ferns more flow through court. The Ferns also looked more comfortable with the change of shooting end, with South African umpire Annie Kloppers not allowing the same amount of close body checking from the Australian defence as Chris Campbell of Jamaica down the other end of the court.
The Kiwi side also stepped up their defensive intensity, the entire team working hard on defence to slow the home side's transition through the court. With the visitors playing much more fluent netball, they managed to cut Australia's lead to just one goal at the halftime break.
With their tails up, the Ferns continued to play controlled and confident netball, stretching their lead out to five goals at one stage in the third quarter. But the plucky Australians fought back in the latter stages of the quarter, with Prendergast and Gerrard punishing any errant passing.
The Australians reduced the deficit to two goals heading in to the final spell, but the change of shooting ends once again thwarted the Diamonds defence as the home side were heavily penalised in the closing stages.
