Magnificent seven: Odds Ferns had to overcome

The Silver Ferns’ Netball World Cup win over Australia on Monday left many Kiwis shocked.

The same national side that returned home from last year’s Commonwealth Games without a medal for the first time in their history had just been crowned champions of the world.

Few pundits picked the Silver Ferns to even make the World Cup final and then to topple netball giants the Australian Diamonds was something else altogether.

It’s not surprising, though, when considering everything that was stacked against them, so here are seven odds the Silver Ferns overcame.

1 A race against time

The Silver Ferns had just 15 months to turn things around following the disaster that was the Commonwealth Games.

And losing to Malawi during the April campaign highlighted how far off the pace the Ferns were.

Head coach Noeline Taurua, who has received much credit for the Ferns’ dramatic comeback, was appointed the top job in August, giving the ailing side less than 11 months to get things right.

Her changes had to come hard and fast and proved to finally pay off just in time.

2 Nothing to their name

The Silver Ferns were labelled the underdogs long before the start of this World Cup, with little success to boast from the past few years.

The Ferns’ horror run of results in 2018 saw them fall to a world ranking of fourth.

Meanwhile, England were hot favourites, having claimed gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games, and Australia were set to defend three back-to-back World Cup titles.

3 Lack of exposure to worldclass competition

With Netball New Zealand’s rules not allowing players to compete in overseas leagues such as the Super Netball competition — without special exemption at least — many of the Ferns had not gone up against the world’s top players in a long time.

There were also the likes of Bailey Mes and Shannon Saunders who hadn’t even played in the black dress since the Commonwealth Games, leaving a gap in their experience on the international stage.

The Silver Ferns had only one another in the domestic ANZ Premiership competition to improve their game.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Super Netball competition, arguably the world’s best in the sport, had attracted plenty of top players from England, Jamaica and South Africa, giving them all the exposure and opportunity to play each other.

4 Taking out the favourites

Finishing up second-ranked in their pool following a loss to Australia meant the Silver Ferns’ journey to the final wasn’t easy.

Being pitted against the hosts, who had thousands of passionate fans to cheer them on, made their odds of winning even slimmer.

Although having won 83 of their past 95 encounters against the Roses, the Ferns had lost the previous four including in January’s Quad Series.

5 All the stats against them

Going into the final, the Silver Ferns held only a 35 per cent win rate over the Australian Diamonds historically, having won just 51 of the past 146 encounters.

Just last year, the Diamonds were one win away from breaking their longest streak of 10 back-to-back victories over the Ferns.

New Zealand had faced Australia in the past three Netball World Cup finals but had suffered narrow loses every time.

A one-goal loss to Australia in pool play only added to the many stats stacked against New Zealand to lift the trophy.

6 Australia’s tactical approach

Australia head coach Lisa Alexander had a rare opportunity to rest her star players in the semifinal, having earned the “easier” clash against the South Africa Proteas.

Regular starters Steph Wood, Courtney Bruce and Kelsey Browne all spent two quarters on the bench, while captain Caitlin Bassett was rested entirely.

Of course, it nearly backfired, with Australia beating the Proteas by only two goals, but it meant the squad was much fresher heading into the final.

Meanwhile, the Ferns’ semifinal against England saw only one change in the second half to Taurua’s starting line-up which left little recovery time for the key players needed to face Australia.

7 Unconvinced Kiwi fans

Unlike England and Australia, the Silver Ferns weren’t able to ride a wave of belief from Kiwi sports fans.

Fans genuinely wanted to believe the team when they said they could win the World Cup but deep down there was a sense that realistically it wasn’t going to happen.

The Silver Ferns had to fight for backing by showing their improvements during pool play and it wasn’t until they took out England that fans started to get on board with the winning culture they had so heavily promoted.

They were forced to create their own belief system but in the end that’s what secured them the win.