25 reasons why the Silver Ferns lost to lowly Malawi
There was plenty of navelgazing going on in netball circles yesterday after the Silver Ferns went down 5753 to Malawi on Sunday night. Sports editor Steve Hepburn listened, watched and read all the reasons for the shock loss and lists 25 here. The Ferns played Scotland last night and then play England in a crunch match at 11am tomorrow
1.
They’re soft — not too technical here. Or lacking mental resilience to be more precise.
2.
Just a bad day at the office — ever walked into work and the whole thing is flat? For no rhyme or reason the day is a shocker. Can’t think properly. Can’t get out of first gear.
3.
Opponent brilliant — sure the Ferns were bad but Malawi was shockingly good.
4.
Stuff happens — look at South Africa at 2015 Rugby World Cup; England lost to the United States in football in 1950 World Cup. The stars align against you for whatever reason.
5.
Bad umpires — it’s a tradition that after a loss the umpires get blamed. Good on the Ferns for not pointing the finger at the officials. But they were not that good.
6.
Dare to criticise — the Silver Ferns are a bit like Jacinda and Richie. They get a dream run from the public and it is all a bit cosy. Leads to no self awareness and a slipping of standards.
7.
Bailey Mes can’t shoot — she was shooting 67% in another game. Yikes! It was 58% against the Queens. Not good enough.
8.Wrong
coach — Noeline Taurua is the best coach in the country. Yet she continually gets ignored for the job.
9.
Coach too dogmatic — coach Janine Southby gets stuck on a route and refuses to change. Te Paea SelbyRickit came off after a fine first quarter against Malawi. Why?
10.
Front office — a team loses, the front office gets the blame. Standard sporting practice.
11.Laura
Langman — tried to bluff Laura Langman and it failed. Best player in NZ and is sitting on the sidelines because of a silly rule.
12.
Split with Aussies — left the transtasman competition and playing among ourselves is not helping our game. But didn’t the Aussies instigate the divorce?
13.
It’s amateur hour — whatever that means.
14.
Tall campaign — NZ Netball started a campaign to recruit tall players. That just alienated all the notsotall players, who will grow eventually.
15.
Schools and teachers — any failure in sport and sooner or later schools get the boot kicked into them.
16.
Grace Kara — the wing attack seems to have a mortgage on the position. A Wyatt Crockettlike player. Just always there and one wonders why.
17.
Other sports — everyone wants to play sevens and basketball these days.
18.
Screenagers — kids live on computers day and night and do not want to go outside and play. That creates depth issues.
19.
Poor buildup — see number 10. Usual excuse when a team fails.
20.
Jonny Foreigner — too many imports in the national
league leads to no opportunities for our own.
21.Improvement
— young players simply have not got any better.
22.
Shaun’s other half — Kayla Cullen is not there and though wing defence is not the most glamorous position she is still a class act.
23.
They’re soft — there we go again.
24.
Blew it — the Ferns had 70 shots to the Malawi shooters’ 66.
25.
Put the ball in the net — it’s a simple game. NZ had its chances. It didn’t take them. A shooting percentage of 76%, compared to Malawi’s 86%. Shoot the goals and win the golds.