Netball: Match play vital for new-look Silver Ferns

Match play is the key focus for the new-look Silver Ferns line-up as the days tick down to the start of the Netball World Cup in Sydney.

The Ferns are assembled in camp in Auckland this week for an intensive block of training, in which they will look to nail down their gameplan and combinations ahead of next month's World Cup.

With several members of the side relatively new to the national set-up, particularly in the attack end, Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu said it is important to the team spend as much time as possible out on court over the next three weeks.

"My big thing for this group is game time. Most of our preparation is about getting these players out on court together as much as possible, it is about growing our understanding of each other and getting used to playing with one another" said Taumaunu.

The New Zealand side will have three warm-up matches this week before taking on Fiji and South Africa in the Taini Jamison series, beginning next Thursday.

This afternoon they take on a group of invitees, which will include local men's players and some of the NZA team, who were selected to try and mimic the Australian style as much as possible. The team will also include former Fern Anna Harrison, who will be given the task of trying to replicate Australian defender Sharni Layton's approach.

It will be the first time the Ferns coaching staff will get a proper look at the new shooting end, which includes relative newcomer Bailey Mes and the uncapped Malia Paseka, in a match situation and Taumaunu is excited to see how the attack end adapts to the new shooting combinations.

The additional of Mes and Paseka along with veterans Maria Tutaia and Jodi Brown gives the Ferns more mobility in their shooting end, and is expected to change up their style markedly from past seasons when the New Zealand shooting circle was made up of one predominantly holding shooter.

"We can expect to see a slightly different style, because of the nature of the shooters. The structure is likely to remain pretty similar, but hopefully executed a little bit differently closer to the shooting circle," said Taumaunu.

"We've talked a little bit about the strategies we want to put in place, so we're all pretty excited to see how it comes together this afternoon."

Even with the intense focus on match play, there is still not a lot of time for the Ferns to cement the new combinations and match style but Taumaunu is confident her side can achieve what they need to before the World Cup gets under way on August 7.

"We've got more games than we got before Commonwealth Games. We have known for a while that was as much as we were going to get with the proximity to the end of ANZ Champs. We will make it work - there is no more time, so there's no use bemoaning the lack of time," she said.