Battered Silver Ferns back in action
Netball The painful memory of a failed Commonwealth Games campaign will be fresh in the minds of Silver Ferns who return to the court tomorrow for the first round of the ANZ Premiership.
And as Netball New Zealand’s “comprehensive” review gets under way, questions surround the level of confidence to be expected from the returning players.
However, Silver Fern and Northern Stars captain Grace Kara said she was “raring to go” after she returned to training on Monday refreshed from a two-week break.
“It’s been good to take a mental break and also a physical break from netball. We obviously didn’t do as well as we wanted and we came off disappointed in that last game. We left everything out there, and so we did come off quite drained, so it’s nice to be well rested heading into another massive campaign.”
Despite Kara’s enthusiasm, it’s hard to imagine all the Ferns will return with a similar spring in their step, such as Silver Fern and Mystics shooter Bailey Mes.
She convereted just 30 of 47 goal attempts (64 per cent) across New Zealand’s five pool matches — the lowest rate of the four Ferns shooters.
Mystics coach Helene Wilson agreed the disappointing Commonwealth Games result could affect players emotionally as they returned to the court but said it was her job to continue pushing them to be the best they could be.
“Results do affect you emotionally, absolutely, because they are highly competitive people and they want to win,” said Wilson.
“You’re never perfect at what you do and you’re never good enough, so a coach’s job is to drive someone to be better every day.
“Bailey and I have caught up — it’s more for us a matter of ‘what did you learn from Commonwealth Games?’ and how do we then grow from that and ‘what can you do differently now at Mystics?’ It’s about how I can support her to do things differently in what she wants to improve on, and I’m quite confident she’ll do that.
“The Silver Ferns is a really pressurised environment, and for the girls coming back to the Mystics, it’s like coming back to your home.”
Netball New Zealand’s policy to select for the national team only players who have competed in the ANZ Premiership was widely criticised following the Silver Ferns’ demise. The rule has been blamed for limiting the development of current and future Silver Ferns.
Wilson agreed the Ferns’ downward spiral could be partly due to NNZ’s restrictions, but had no doubt that with the continued support of the franchise coaches, New Zealand would soon be back at the top of international netball.
“I think New Zealand Netball has maybe been tracking in a direction that’s been challenging for us internationally, Bailey Mes swaps her Silver Ferns bib for the Mystics tomorrow. because of the ANZ Premiership.
“If we do our jobs as franchise coaches now, to develop and invest in the talent in New Zealand, and within New Zealand, I think within the next four-year cycle of the Commonwealth Games and world championships, you’re going to see some really exciting netball coming out of New Zealand. New Zealand are going to be ahead of the game within the next four years in international netball.”
The first round of the ANZ Premiership starts tomorrow in Palmerston North.