Netball World Cup: Ferns stars to get a post-Cup breather

Senior player Casey Kopua. Photo / Getty Images

Netball NZ deal means decisions for veteran players over possible retirement and future of coaches will wait.

Any announcements on the playing future of some of the Silver Ferns' veteran stars are likely to be put on hold until the end of the year.

There had been speculation of a flurry of post-World Cup retirements after this month's tournament in Sydney, with several of the team's senior players including Casey Kopua, Leana de Bruin and Jodi Brown thought to be considering stepping away from international netball following the pinnacle event.

Laura Langman, who has anchored the Ferns midcourt for more than a decade, and star shooter Maria Tutaia may also be getting to a point in their careers where they are thinking about what is next.

But Netball New Zealand struck a deal with the players' association this year to extend all the current squad's contracts, which were originally due to expire after this month's World Cup, until November.

Coaches Waimarama Taumaunu and Vicki Wilson will also remain at the helm of the national team through to the end of the year.

While the World Cup signifies the traditional end to a four-year cycle in international netball, it effectively falls in the middle of the Ferns' season, with New Zealand still to play a four-test series against Australia in October.

High performance manager Steve Lancaster said the motivation to extend the contracts of the players and, in particular, the coaches was to provide some certainty to the programme for the rest of the year.

"We really just wanted to make sure we had Wai locked in well past the World Cup, primarily to take that off the table around this time.

"We didn't want to have that being a distraction or something that we're having to worry about," he said.

"We thought it would be sensible to get through the World Cup and the Constellation Cup to have some continuity and it allows us to do a thorough debrief process to review our programme and management at the end of the year."

Lancaster said the national body also wanted to give the players plenty of time to contemplate their international futures, and ensure it didn't become a distraction for them during the Cup.

"We didn't want to have it rattling around the players' minds that they have to make decisions immediately after the World Cup.

"And also for us, from a selection and contracting perspective it just takes the heat off, have everyone contracted through to the end of the year so there is plenty of time to prepare for these things.

"There'll definitely be players thinking about their future beyond this season and maybe even beyond the World Cup, but we just wanted to take the pressure off that situation and let them figure it out in their own time."

The Constellation Cup begins in October, with two tests in Christchurch, Auckland, Melbourne and Perth. After the series Netball NZ will conduct a review of the national programme and management team.

Taumaunu is yet to signal if she wants to stay for another term. Whether she would have to reapply for her job is likely to be determined by the team's success in Sydney.