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Silver Fern Kate Heffernan has revealed her preferred midcourt position as Dame Noeline Taurua weighs up how best to fill the wing defence bib at the Netball World Cup starting July 28.
The New Zealand side travel to the Sunshine Coast today where they will begin their second pre-tournament bootcamp, running until July 10.
Wing defence looms as one of the biggest points of contention with no clear specialist in the 15-strong squad.
Heffernan is the only named midcourter with experience there, but has played mostly at centre during the ANZ Premiership.
The only other apparent option is to shift standout goal defence Karin Burger to the midcourt, disrupting her dominant Mainland Tactix partnership with goal keep Jane Watson.
Heffernan said centre is her favourite position, but she is training in both.
“I actually do enjoy going into the wing defence position in this environment because I can just really focus on my defence, which is my strength. That’s what I’m a lot more natural at doing and what I love, so I don’t mind.
“We do heaps of different lineups and get to sort out all the combinations. I’m just making sure I know my role in both centre and wing defence, and wherever I end up, I’ve got it sorted.”
Kate Heffernan and the Silver Ferns lost to Jamaica in Birmingham. Photo / photosport.nz
The Silver Ferns will begin to shift focus to derailing arch-rivals Australia as progress is made on the Sunshine Coast.
Their main objective has been solidifying both attack and defence strategy but Taurua has been analysing New Zealand’s biggest threats for months.
Australia won the last two Constellation Cup outings in October and followed that with victory over the Silver Ferns in the Quad Series final in Cape Town in January.
Heffernan said a lot of work has gone into decoding the Diamonds.
“We’ll keep building the analysis stuff. I think that’s going to be massive in the next couple of weeks as we go to the Sunshine Coast and our last camp in Auckland. But at the moment, we’re focusing on clarity, structures, ourselves and then we can start to think about the other teams and how they might slightly change.”
Heffernan said they have been drilling small tweaks at both ends of the court.
“So we’re really clear on every structure. For defence, where there are intercepts. On attack, how are we getting the ball to our shooters in the most efficient and easiest way?”
Heffernan, 23, has relished finally getting the chance to meet Laura Langman in person, who joined the side in Auckland for the first camp as a specialist coach and will do so again in Australia.
Silver Ferns goal shoot Grace Nweke speaks about the Constellation Cup series and the rivalry against the Diamonds in the final match. Video / Alyse Wright
