Netball: Silver Ferns running at 60 per cent – Aitken

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken wants a more consistent effort in tonight's final test against Australia. Photo / Getty Images

Coach Ruth Aitken rates the Silver Ferns at having reached 60 per cent of their potential ahead of their fifth and final netball test against Australia in Auckland tonight.

Up 1-0 after the opening test in Sydney, the New Zealanders have seen the series slip from their grasp with successive defeats in Melbourne, Brisbane and Invercargill.

But Aitken said the Silver Ferns, under new skipper Casey Williams, had made plenty of strides since the opening match of their 2-1 series defeat to the World 7 last month.

"I think we are making real progress as a team and we have to keep chipping at it, but there's still further to go," she said.

"I think we are about 60 per cent along where we need to be."

Aitken said the other 40 per cent included better transition from defence and refinements in attack.

"Certainly our links in terms of our defence, bringing that ball out of our defence, getting it in with our middies and our shooters," she said in listing improvements.

"Also, I also think our attacking style is only part way along the way. We need to keep developing that because I believe there is space on court we need to use."

While a dead rubber might mean a chance to try some new combinations, Aitken noted that the Silver Ferns had already used 11 players so far.

On the issue of mental toughness, seen even within the New Zealand camp as a difference between the transtasman rivals, Aitken said the greater depth in Australian netball probably helped the Diamonds.

"Given the fact that they have to fight so much for their positions all the time, that probably does give them the edge," she said.

"But I believe we are working towards it. We aren't quite there yet, but watch this space."

The Diamonds had gone into the series as underdogs, given their injury list, but Aitken wasn't surprised at how competitive the series had been, with no more than four goals deciding any test.

Having been exposed to Australian netball for as long as she has, she knew injuries didn't make that much of a difference to Australia.

"The next level just step up," she said, pointing to how the likes of rookie midcourter Renae Hallinan and inexperienced defender Susan Fuhrmann had performed. Meanwhile, Williams was looking for a better start and greater consistency from the Silver Ferns in the series finale.

In their heart-breaking 47-46 defeat in the previous test in Invercargill last Sunday, the New Zealanders trailed early and then at every break.

"We want to be consistent for the whole four quarters," she said.

"The more time together we have and the more suffering we are going through now, the better we will be in the future."

Williams was unrepentant about her post-match comment that the Silver Ferns were "pretty pissed off" to have lost the series.

"After the game, your emotions are running and you get caught up in it," she said.

"I was definitely frustrated and disappointed but I just think it shows how much passion I have for the game."

- NZPA