Grant admits Silver Ferns’ slide has hurt their legacy
‘‘We need to pick our game up.’’
That's the honest - and accurate assessment from Silver Ferns captain Katrina Grant after she and her troops were demolished 65-44 by Australia in the Commonwealth Games netball semifinal last night.
‘‘This is really disappointing and not great for the Silver Fern legacy,’’ Grant said.
The skipper said losing in a semifinal was hard.
‘‘We've never not been in a gold medal match. We don't want to go home empty-handed. We came here to win a gold medal and now we don't even have the chance to do that.’’
New Zealand will play Jamaica in the bronze medal match today after Jamaica were pipped 56-55 by England in the other semifinal earlier.
Grant admitted NZ franchises no longer playing in the trans-Tasman championship has likely hurt them at international level.
‘‘Potentially - it's hard for me to know on that. I'm guessing ... probably ... I’m not 100 per cent sure,’’ she said. ‘‘I suppose it does work week-in, week-out when you're playing against that high competition, that one-on-one marking you get used to all the time probably does help. But again, the ANZ Premiership is really good because we're building young players for the future.
‘‘At the moment we're not seeing that, but I think in three or four years time it's really going to show through in international netball.’’
Grant had praise for their slick opponents, who dictated every facet of the Saturday semifinal.
"They are a really good side and playing some outstanding netball.
"Whatever combination they put out on the court at the moment ... they're letting the ball go, trusting each other. Silly errors isn't good enough in general and especially not against Australia."
After a shock loss to Malawi in pool play and a record breaking ninegoal defeat to England in their final group game on Wednesday, the
Silver Ferns had to almost play the perfect game to get close to Australia. But Australia were quick out of the blocks, racing to a 18-12 first quarter advantage, which blew out to 32-21 by halftime.
The onslaught continued in the second half with Australia punishing Silver Ferns turnovers with slick movement through the court down to their accurate shooters.
The victory was Australia’s sixth straight win over the Silver Ferns since their surprise 57-47 loss in the Quad Series decider in Invercargill on September 3. Australia’s last four wins over the Silver Ferns have all been by double digit margins and the margin has increased each time. It continued a worrying run of results for New Zealand since October. This was their 11th loss in their last 17 games.
There were early danger signs for the Silver Ferns with Australia racing out to a 13-6 lead. It was too easy for the Australian midcourt, who were able to hit the circle edge with ease and get the ball right where they wanted it to their shooters.
Four unanswered goals from the Ferns pegged it back to 14-11, but Australia finished the opening term strongly to build a 18-12 lead. New Zealand weren’t able to generate enough early turnover ball with a Grant intercept the lone defensive pick-up of the first quarter.
Under-fire coach Janine Southby sprang a surprise to start the game, going with a defensive-minded midcourt.
Claire Kersten, who was called into the Games squad for the injured Kayla Cullen, started at wing defence with Samantha Sinclair getting the nod at centre.
However, Sinclair lasted just one quarter before she made way for Shannon Francois.