Ferns Lift Intensity Ahead of Friday’s Showdown
The Silver Ferns have been through a rigorous training match at Arena Manawatu in Palmerston North this morning ahead of Friday night’s must-win match against England.
The New Zealand team arrived from Rotorua on Wednesday and have hit the ground running against an invitational side, watched by top local high school team, Manukura, coached by Yvette McCausland-Durie.
The test match as part of the New World Netball Series at Arena Manawatu sold out weeks ago in what is the final Netball international of the season for the Silver Ferns. It is the final test match in the country for England after their Australasian tour matches and the team will head to Auckland this weekend to prepare for the FAST5 Netball World Series at Vector Arena before travelling home to prepare for a three-match test series against Malawi in December.
The Silver Ferns will be looking to consolidate their new combinations which have been trialled on court over the past few matches with shooting percentages the key focus for improvement if they are to beat England.
Palmerston North’s ‘Month of Netball’ to celebrate Netball Manawatu’s 85th anniversary will officially come to a close on Friday night after the Silver Ferns v England test match with Netball in the region enjoying a high profile. Junior Netballers have been enjoying Fun Days and other initiatives in the region highlighting Netball, have proved very successful.
With Arena Manawatu sold out, Netball fans can watch every second of Friday’s test match live on SKY Sport from 7.00pm.