Silver Ferns give up comfort zone

YOU have to admire the ruthlessness of it all.

Divide a squad up into defenders, midcourters and shooters, and tell them they are about to run the yo-yo test. The top-four finishers in each of the three groups are going to Fiji to play three tests. The rest are staying in Auckland to work on their fitness. Ready, set, go. ‘‘It was very clear and in the event of a tie there was a tiebreak,’’ Silver Ferns netball coach Waimarama Taumaunu said.

Last year was tremendously uncomfortable for the coach.

The team played poorly and her ability was questioned like never before. So, having sent the players away to improve their conditioning, Taumaunu settled on the idea that the yo-yo would determine selection.

‘‘There was a lot of anxiety [among the players] and it was very valuable . . . and a very transparent vehicle.’’

And part of what the coach intends the months between now and the Netball World Cup in August to be like. Comfort zones won’t cut it and Australia will take them to the cleaners again unless things change.

So, as the Silver Ferns squad members resume life with their Trans-Tasman Netball League franchises, Taumaunu is fairly satisfied with what was achieved during January. Everything about the squad’s camp in Auckland, then the week playing Fiji and Samoa in Suva, was difficult and that is how it needs to be.

Some of that was by design and some by happy coincidence.

Taumaunu did not know there would be no air-conditioning at Suva’s Vodafone Arena or that the power would go out or that Maria Tutaia would get mobbed everywhere the team went.

But the more testing things got, the more Taumaunu felt the players rallied. The games against Fiji and Samoa were always going to be won by whopping margins, so the worth of the month’s work had to be measured against more peripheral things.

‘‘The loss at Comm Games and then in the Constellation Cup highlighted for us that if we carry on what we’ve been doing, it won’t be good enough to win a gold medal [at the World Cup].’’

So, for instance, when the senior players’ group came to her and said they wanted to conclude the pre-tour camp with an Olympic-distance triathlon Taumaunu was delighted by the initiative and the intent.

A lot of this is driven by the fact many of the group are at the end of their international careers.

There won’t be another world champs for them and they either do everything to win this one or accept failure.

‘‘There wasn’t anyone in the group that disagreed with the notion that we have to be better and that will mean we have to get uncomfortable,’’ said Taumaunu.

The players will assemble every three weeks during the Trans-Tasman Netball League, while the work they are doing over and above their franchise training will be recorded and analysed.