Ferns return to the spotlight
Between Olympic success and the All Blacks routing the Wallabies, we understand if you’ve missed the dawn of international netball’s breakthrough tournament.
Being sandwiched among those events is hardly fair but netball is now ready to make a grab for its slice of profile.
The Commonwealth Games and World Cup remain the sport’s pinnacle events but, in between times, elite netball finally has another meaningful competition to consistently hang its hat on. And, no, that’s not just another transtasman battle.
Back in 2012, netball flirted with the idea of a four-team event involving New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England. At the time no-one had the intuition to make it a regular arrangement, and it died as a one-off event.
That all changed late last year with the formation of Sanzea, the long-overdue formal partnership with those four nations, and we now have the Quad Series locked
A reciprocal series then takes place in South Africa and England early next year, and could eventually be opened up to include the likes of Jamaica, who need to secure additional funding.
‘‘We’ve been working on this partnership for quite some time so it’s fantastic for women’s sport to get it off the ground,’’ Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said.
‘‘Absolutely there’s the opportunity to look at some other participating nations. To get that flair and colour from the Caribbean would be great.’’
Australia, world champions, start as short-priced favourites to add to their trophy collection. They arrive with the most experience and settled squad and a coach in Alexander who embarks on her sixth international season.
‘‘We have a lot of expectation on ourselves,’’ Alexander said. ‘‘We know outside there’s chat and everything else but you’re only as good as your last performance and you’re always a bit nervous and anxious.’’
The most intriguing element of this series is the unknown Janine Southby’s Silver Ferns pose. With three rookies, a new captain in Katrina Grant and a host of experience missing, the start of a new era brings risk and reward in equal measures.
‘‘Jannie has gone for a form team and you can see that,’’ Alexander said. ‘‘It’s exciting; the start of a new cycle. I wish her all the best - not too much against us though.’’
Former Ferns nemesis Norma Plummer, now mentoring South Africa, is also unsure what Southby’s new mix will provide.
‘‘That’s a what if situation at the moment,’’ she said. ‘‘I look at Australia and I still see the strength and depth there. Nothing much has changed.
‘‘We come into this knowing it’s a huge challenge but unless they’re playing these games they’re not going to improve. You’ve got to evolve your sport and that’s what netball is doing.’’
No doubt there’s been a few sleepless nights in the lead-up to this event but from the new CEO to new coach, a sense of hope also bubbles away about the Ferns’ chances of surprising.
‘‘You’d be lying if you said you weren’t nervous,’’ Wyllie said. ‘‘We’re looking for this group to be a long-term combination for the future but expectations are we go out and deliver.’’