‘Victim mode’ worries coach
Noeline Taurua has called for the Silver Ferns to be smarter dealing with physical Australian defence and avoid going into ‘‘victim mode’’.
New Zealand produced promising signs in yesterday’s 60-55 loss to Australia in Melbourne, a result which saw the Diamonds retain the Quad Series title.
It was a vastly improved showing from the new-look Ferns, who were thumped by 21 goals (65-44) in their most recent encounter with Australia in the semifinals of April’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Taurua, coaching for the first time against Australia since taking over the Ferns head coaching job three weeks ago, was satisfied with the performance and described it as a starting point.
New Zealand will have another crack at the three-time reigning world champion Diamonds during the four-game Constellation Cup series, starting in Brisbane on October 7.
At times, the Ferns struggled against the combative nature of the Australian man-on-man defensive style and competing for 50-50 possession. Taurua said they needed to change their mindset leading into the Constellation Cup.
‘‘We cannot rely on the umpire call and I think for those moments where we’re getting hit we go somewhere else.
‘‘We become very reactive and what I call victim mode, so I’d like to sweep that aside and make sure we need to expect that to happen.’’
Taurua didn’t have any qualms with the officiating and said players needed to be smarter with how they contested for the ball and dealt with contact.
‘‘We’ve got to expect that sort of stuff. It’s the Australian way, with regards to the physicality, the tight man-on-man marking.
‘‘If we can shift our mindset in that, I’ll be really happy. Sometimes, you can only talk about it. For us to experience it, there’s a lot of learnings in it.’’
New Zealand had moments where they got the ball away under heavy defensive pressure and Taurua said that was something they would needed to finetune ahead of the Constellation Cup.
Australian goal keep Courtney Bruce caused problems for the Fern shooters at times with her 1.89m height and tenacious defence, where she contested for every ball.
‘‘There was moments of brilliance and knowing we could release the ball and get the penalty, but then sometimes we got consumed in what was happening on the body and because of that we weren’t able to get the ball away or do our job.’’
The Silver Ferns have shown steady progress between each of their Quad Series matches after opening with an ugly 52-39 loss to Commonwealth Games gold medallists England in Auckland last Saturday – Taurua’s first game in charge.
Tuesday’s 61-37 victory over Norma Plummer-coached South Africa in Tauranga was a step in the right direction and Taurua said the Australian result represented a foundation.
Since last October, New Zealand have suffered 21, 19, 16, 12, and eight-goal losses to the Diamonds in succession, highlighting how much of an improvement the Melbourne result was.
Losing never sits well with Taurua and she said the Quad Series had given her plenty to digest.
‘‘I don’t want to downplay us losing because I don’t like doing that, but it’s respectable and it’s a good start.
‘‘The fantastic thing was we were within cooee and we were breathing down the neck and that’s always a positive sign.’’
The Silver Ferns have a training camp in Auckland over October 2-5 and will name their Constellation Cup squad on October 4.
Former Ferns skipper and centurion Casey Kopua, who is back running again, looks a long shot for that series as she continues her recovery from a plantar fascia tear to a foot sustained in the national premiership.
Quarter scores: