Ferns’ defeat an ‘uppercut’
Beating Australia in netball is tough at the best of times, but impossible when you don’t treasure possession.
A frustrated Noeline Taurua is demanding a massive lift in accuracy and intensity from the Silver Ferns after they opened the fourgame Constellation Cup series with an ugly 57-42 loss in Brisbane yesterday.
It was very much a case of one step forward, two steps backwards from the Ferns, who showed promising signs when they last met the Diamonds two weeks ago in Melbourne, losing 60-55.
New Zealand face a quick turnaround ahead of the second test in Townsville on Wednesday night. Taurua, in her fourth game as head coach since taking over from Janine Southby, said everybody needed to take a hard look at themselves.
‘‘The positives are you can only keep getting slapped and when are we going to learn and that’s what it’s all about,’’ Taurua said.
Rebuilding the Silver Ferns after the disastrous showing at the Commonwealth Games in April, where they finished fourth and failed to medal for the first time, won’t happen in one series.
New Zealand started well, leading 7-4 in the first quarter and were locked at 10-10 by the end of the term, but from there it was all Australia. The Diamonds outscored the Ferns 34-17 over the second and third quarters and it was game over after that.
Turnovers were a glaring issue with the Ferns committing 39 for the match, including frequent held balls or attacking contact. Several occurred at the end of the first term when the Ferns should have put their foot down and built a buffer.
‘‘It’s just not good enough and not up to international standard,’’ captain Laura Langman said of the errors.
‘‘We need to sort that out and that will put us in the fight because when that happens that’s pretty much one goal and then it’s their centre pass and that’s two. So if everyone is doing four or five, and I was doing a lot, that’s costly.’’
Langman equalled Irene van Dyk’s mark for the most capped Fern in history with 145 games and the side would have been determined to deliver a memorable showing to honour her.
Instead it turned into a forgettable performance that leaves Taurua with more questions than answers as they attempt to haul themselves back into the series.
‘‘When you look at the scoreboard like that, it’s definitely an uppercut,’’ Taurua said.
‘‘We’ve just got to keep the faith in what we’re doing and, once again, those little things we’ve got to be able to execute and deliver.’’
The Ferns will take a tiny bit of consolation from the way they finished the game, winning the final quarter 15-13. The result was well and truly over by that point and Australia had rested the bulk of their starting seven.
New Zealand have lost eight straight matches to the Diamonds dating back to last September, a streak Australia will be desperate to preserve in Townsville.
At a glance
Australia 57
(Caitlin Bassett: 17/21, Stephanie Wood: 7/11, Caitlin Thwaites: 21/21, Gretel Tippett: 12/12) (Aliyah Dunn: 5/6, Maria Folau: 26/29, Maia Wilson: 7/10, Te Paea Selbyrickit: 4/6).
1Q: 10-10, HT: 24-16 3Q: 44-27.
New Zealand 42