Silver Ferns can’t afford to ‘slack off’
The Silver Ferns only need to cast their minds back 12 months to realise how ruthless Australia can be on the netball court.
Having pulled off a memorable 53-51 victory in the second game of the Constellation Cup in Tasmania to level the series, the Silver Ferns were handed a stern reality check back in New Zealand.
They were hammered 62-50 in Auckland and were pipped 49-45 in the final game in Invercargill to lose the series 3-1, an all too familiar story.
Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby is expecting a similar angry response from Australia in the four-test Constellation Cup series, starting at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Thursday night.
The three-time reigning World Cup champions have been licking their wounds over the past month after an embarrassing 57-47 loss to the Silver Ferns in the Quad Series decider in Invercargill.
New Zealand were superb and deserved the win, but it was an uncharacteristic showing from the Diamonds, who never led and committed a stack of turnovers.
Experienced wing attack Madi Robinson and starting goal attack Gretel Tippett both paid the price for quiet Quad Series performances being dropped for this series.
Southby said the Silver Ferns let themselves down in last year’s Constellation Cup, falling into bad habits after a character-building win in Australia and wouldn’t tolerate a repeat.
The Silver Ferns haven’t won the annual end of season series since 2012 and if they could regain the silverware it would be a major pyschological edge six months out from the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Winning a one-off game against Australia in the Quad Series was pleasing, but a four-game series over two weeks will provide stronger evidence where the Silver Ferns are really at.
‘‘We can’t afford to slack off and think we’ve got this. It’s about maintaining it for the whole time and we were guilty of letting it go [last year],’’ Southby said.
‘‘We know it’s going to be really challenging in lots of ways. We know we have to be at our best for the whole time.’’
Southby recently compared Australia to a ‘‘wounded rhino’’ after their Quad Series defeat and was fully aware what response they could expect in Auckland.
She said the message had been to concentrate on their own processes and react quickly to what Australia were producing.
‘‘We know they won’t like to be in the position they’re in and we know they’ll be doing everything they possibly can [to turn it around]. I’d like to believe all players in the [Silver Ferns] group can lift another gear and are ready to do that.’’
The Silver Ferns enjoyed a brief break after beating England 2-1 in the Taini Jamison Trophy, carrying out their own individual training programmes. Southby was delighted several personal bests had been achieved in fitness testing this week, which showed players were putting in the hard yards away from camp.
Eliminating sloppy lulls, which hurt them against England, with a strong quarter often followed by a mistake-ridden one, was crucial, Southby said.