Faltering Ferns under intense pressure to perform
No doubt about it, the Silver Ferns’ buildup to the Commonwealth Games has been horrific and they’ll kick off their campaign under the pump.
Of all the sports at the Commonwealth Games, New Zealanders seem to take more interest in the netball than sports like hockey, athletics or cycling.
So when the Silver Ferns lose to England, Australia and Jamaica (twice) in the months before the Commonwealth Games, it’s not surprising there’s nationwide gnashing.
Losing to Australia in the final, as was the case last time in Glasgow, is usually seen as a failure, but they go into this tournament with there being a real possibility of not even getting a medal.
The lead-in tournament, the Taini Jamison Trophy, saw the Silver Ferns thrash Malawi and Fiji, as they should, but were twice beaten by Jamaica.
If that gave the Silver Ferns the wake-up call they needed, then all good, and midcourter Shannon Francis felt they took a lot from it.
‘‘It was good preparation, it was awesome to get four games in a row,’’ she said.
‘‘That match fitness you can’t replicate in training, so we’re going to reap the rewards of that next week.
‘‘It was also good to see where we are against other teams, it’s hard to replicate Jamaica and how they play in training and the same for Malawi.
‘‘So it’s really good experience and we got to learn from being under pressure. So we can take learnings from it.’’
Fair points about learning, but those defeats are sure to have knocked the confidence of the team, who will have to cope without having Kayla Cullen, because of a knee injury.
‘‘It definitely adds a bit of fire in your belly and makes us hungry to be successful at the Commonwealth Games,’’ Francois said.
‘‘Like I said, it’s a learning experience and we’re definitely not losing confidence. We’re gaining in areas we’re trying to improve on in training and that’s positive, but there is still lots to work on.’’
In the pool stage, the Silver Ferns play against Uganda, Wales, Malawi, Scotland and England.
That final pool game, which, let’s be honest, is the only one of any interest, will take place at 9am local time. That’s great for TV viewers in the UK, but not so for professional athletes, who’ll have to be up at 5.30am to be ready for it.
‘‘The last time I played that early was at club, so it’s been a while,’’ Francois said.
‘‘We’ve thought about it and we’ve replicated game days at 9am in our camps.
‘‘So it won’t be a surprise and it’s not something we can use as an excuse.’’
New Zealand should play either Australia or Jamaica in semifinals and if they do end up taking on Jamaica again in the playoff stages, the Ferns will need to come up with a better plan for how to deal with Jhaniele Fowler-reid, who has become the most feared goal shoot in the netball-playing world.
At 1.98m tall, defenders have no chance of beating her for high balls and she rarely misses her shots.
‘‘She’s grown immensely. I had the privilege of playing with her for five years [at the Southern Steel], so I’ve know exactly how amazing she is.
‘‘You’ve got to give her full credit, she’s really hard to get ball off and that is frustrating.’’
If the Silver Ferns do go on to take gold on the Gold Coast, then coach Janine Southby should be recognised and congratulated for orchestrating a magnificent turnaround and getting the team to peak at the right time.
A silver medal would be a pass mark and a bronze would mean a disappointing tournament.
Coming home empty-handed? Well, that’s probably not worth thinking about just yet