Decisions loom for Ferns
Team advised to take a breather before making calls on their future after Oz heartbreak
Decision time looms for several long-serving Silver Ferns as the team now take time out to reflect on another Netball World Cup heartbreak. The New Zealand side flew out of Sydney yesterday with the devastation of the previous night’s 58-55 loss to Australia in the World Cup final still etched on their faces.
There was some satisfaction and pride in how far they had come as a group over the past six weeks, but the overriding feeling in the team was one of regret at their disastrous 16-7 opening quarter, during which they failed to execute their game plan.
With the emotions still raw, coach Waimarama Taumaunu said it was not a good time for players to be making decisions about their future.
She is advising her team to have a good break before they make any calls.
Several players, including Silver Ferns skipper Casey Kopua, fellow defender Leana de Bruin and midcourt veteran Laura Langman have already stated publicly they will take time out to reflect before making any solid plans.
Taumaunu faces some decisions herself. She is yet to make up her mind on whether to seek reappointment when her contract expires at the end of the year and says those decisions are still a long way off.
If Taumaunu, who was elevated into the top job after Ruth Aitken stepped down in 2011, is keen to stick around for another crack, she will still have to contest her position, with Netball NZ intending to run an open selection process.
Her contract, with that of the national squad, was originally due to expire next month, but Netball NZ high performance manager Steve Lancaster said the decision was made at the beginning of the year to extend the contracts for all the playing and management staff through until the end of November.
He said that would allow the national body to conduct a full review of the Silver Ferns programme and coaching staff without the deadline of the October Constellation Cup series breathing down their necks.
“We really just wanted to make sure we had Wai locked in well past the World Cup, primarily to take that off the table around this time,” he said.
“It allows us to do a thorough debrief process to review our programme and management at the end of the year.”
The World Cup team will still have to trial for a place in the Constellation Cup line-up, and Lancaster says the possibility could arise that some of the veteran members of the side choose to step down early. “There’ll definitely be players thinking about their future beyond the World Cup, but we just wanted to take the pressure off that situation and let them figure it out in their own time.”
Among those is also veteran shooter Jodi Brown.
Having been in the New Zealand side since 2003, Brown said it had crossed her mind that the time to step aside and allow some youth to come through might be drawing near.
“There’s lots of emotions right now, do I stay or do I chuck it in? I’ve always thought there are young ones coming up that are pushing hard. But I think I’ve helped share some know- ledge with this group and it’s been a really good balance of having a bit of experience with that youth,” she said.
“Right now I’m just looking forward to getting home to two little girls [daughters Kiana and Aria] and having some time with them.”
But Brown said the outcome in Sydney might convince a few players to stick around a bit longer to continue the development of the relatively new group.
“The Constellation Cup is not that far away really and it would be nice to keep this 12 together and hopefully make our mark on that,” she said.