Still plenty to play for, say Ferns
THE Silver Ferns have a huge task on their hands to win the Constellation Cup after going 2-0 down in the four-test series against Australia, but Leana de Bruin says they won’t die wondering.
The 58-48 loss in Auckland on Thursday night followed the 50-44 loss in Christchurch two days earlier and for New Zealand to win the trophy they need to win the upcoming games in Melbourne (tomorrow) and Perth (Friday) and come out with a better goal percentage.
Given that the Diamonds have won the last 10 Constellation Cup games, it’s highly unlikely to happen, but defender de Bruin says they’re prepared to take risks to chance their collective arms.
‘‘As it’s the last two, you might as well go really hard and try things to see if they’ll work in the future,’’ de Bruin said.
‘‘Hopefully we’ll get a few of the young kids on the court and see how they go, but it’s still pretty exciting to step onto the court for the Silver Ferns and it’s an honour to do that, I’m looking forward to the challenge.
‘‘At the moment we just want to fix those little things and we’re more worried about putting in a good game and being really competitive out there.’’
Losing by 10 points in Auckland didn’t give a true reflection of the game on Thursday and it was only toward the end of the third quarter that Australia managed to edge ahead.
Then a fourth quarter blowout meant all the good work the Silver Ferns did earlier was wasted.
‘‘I thought there were patches where we gave them a hard time, but we’ve got to fix small little things and look after crucial ball when we get it,’’ de Bruin said.
Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander will rest the experienced Laura Geitz and Gabi Simpson for the final two games of the series, bringing in the uncapped duo of Ashleigh Brazill and Jo Weston.
It’s a move that shows how confident Alexander is that the series is over, but de Bruin said she was surprised to see Geitz feature at all.
‘‘After the world champs they said she was going to retire,’’ de Bruin said.
‘‘People have personal reasons why they don’t want to play, but Sharni Layton is just as good and I don’t think it will make a big difference for them.’’