Strong foundation set ahead of World Cup departure
With the heavy lifting phase of their preparations tapering, the Silver Ferns are transitioning to the refining phase ahead of the fast-approaching Netball World Cup in South Africa.
The team now have several intense and gruelling training camps under their belts, recently returning from Australia’s Sunshine Coast where the spadework continued unabated.
The Silver Ferns will depart for the 16th edition of the World Cup in Cape Town later this week ahead of their tournament opener against Trinidad & Tobago on July 28.
“The Sunshine Coast camp was a massive week and big for the purpose of getting our (physical) loads all sorted, and now know that we’ve got a bit in our back pocket,” Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said.
“So, that was a tick in regards to looking at our combinations and working through our processes for the last four days (play-offs) at the World Cup and we also had some games against different opposition. We covered quite a lot of ground over the week.”
However, the work is far from done for the defending champions, the coach happy with the foundation that has been set but with plenty of fine-tuning still to do.
“While we’re getting close to departure, I’m excited but I think all the players are just happy to be getting through training and crossing that off the list,” Taurua said.
“But I feel that we are shifting and that’s all we can ask for, and the intent of the players is very good.
“They’re fully invested, they’re committed and we’re working every training as hard as we can, so really, at the moment, is still just the ‘heads down’ philosophy.”
Once arriving in Cape Town, the players have several lead-up days to acclimatise which will play a key role in nailing team’s final build-up phase and putting the seal on their preparations.
“Every stage we’ve been through has been quite specific and it’s all about building on the clarity around the systems and working our combinations, so that week will just be another stage of doing exactly the same thing,” Taurua said.
“It will also provide time to adjust to the environment and we’ve arranged games with Fiji and Malawi, and that will help us get a good gauge on playing a different style while trying to consolidate ourselves as fast as possible.”
With most netball internationals played in the evening, the tournament nature of the World Cup means games are played across all hours of the day. And the Silver Ferns will play their three pool games, against Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda and Singapore in the morning with two being played at 9am.
While it is not the norm, it is another scenario, the Silver Ferns have prepared for.
“I’m really happy with 9am games,” Taurua said.
“At the Commonwealth Games we had the late rounds and that means you’re not getting to bed until midnight - 1am, so this timing just gives us more space and time during the day to recover better and analyse, and be able to go into the next game preparation all on the same day.
“We see the positives of playing in the 9am scheduling and we’ve just got to make sure we’re ticking the boxes in regards to our preparation.”
Taurua was delighted with the contribution provided by former Silver Ferns captain and most capped player Laura Langman at two of their camps. Langman introduced new skill drills while adding to the variety of the team’s warm-up for the World Cup.
“Having her energy and involvement added an extra spark,” she said.
“It was really neat for some of our current group who have never worked with her or don’t really know her, so there was a lot of up-side in having her involved with the Silver Ferns legacy of connecting our past and our present.”
Silver Ferns pool matches:
July 28 vs Trinidad & Tobago, 9am (7pm, NZT)
July 29 vs Uganda, 9am (7pm, NZT)
July 30 vs Singapore, 11am (9pm, NZT)