Plummer: NWC2015 the final countdown
August 1, 2015
Norma Plummer will coach South Africa’s SPAR Proteas at NWC2015
According to new South African coach Norma Plummer, defending champions Australia are the team to beat at next month’s World Cup but Plummer believes she has seen enough from other countries to expect some upsets in Sydney.
With three world championships to her name – one as a player and two as coach – Norma Plummer is excited, and somewhat surprised, to be heading to another.
But she expects her native country to be tough to knock over on home soil.
“I can’t see Australia, at this particular point in time, being beaten but you never know in these situations.”
Plummer – who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia award for her services to netball in 2013 – has already shown through their efforts against the Silver Ferns, that South Africa are a side driven to improve on their ranking of sixth in the world and showcase their talents against the leading nations.
“Funny things can happen at these World Cups because there’s a lot of pressure to deal with day in and day out,” Plummer says. “For us it’s about our ranking and the performance we put out there – I think we can give a few people a fright.”
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 1
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 2
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 3
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 4
The top four nations – including Australia, New Zealand, England and Jamaica – will toss up a few surprises over the 10-day tournament, she says.
Having spent some time in England since the last world championships she has been impressed with what she has seen and felt they were unlucky to not medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year.
“Australia would not have won Commonwealth Games gold if England had shot that penalty, so that is a team that everyone is going to have to watch,” Plummer says. “They have got a new coach so we don’t really know what that brings to the mix but they’ve certainly got the goods.”
The former Australian Diamonds coach said it would be important for the likes of England to arrive in Sydney with an “intensity” to match finals Netball.
“We’ve had to change the World Series now to make it more competitive, hitting teams earlier in the round,” she says. “It’s probably a really good thing and makes everyone sharper.
“But if you fall to one of the big teams early on it can be a big task picking yourself back up again – England found that at Comm Games with a couple of close losses.”
She sees Jamaica as a side which has improved in this area under the tutelage of another former Australian national coach, Jill McIntosh.
“With Jamaica you just never know,” Plummer says. “And when you’ve got a Romelda (Aiken) and a (Jhaniele) Fowler-Reid in a team, oh my God, how lucky are you?”
She hopes Fowler-Reid will deliver more in Sydney than she did at Glasgow last year after being “disappointed” with her performance at the Commonwealth Games.
“They’ve got two big tall talent factors in there and they could do anything. You’ve just got to be ready on the day.”
But when it comes to her greatest netballing nemesis – the Silver Ferns – Plummer will be keeping a close eye on the new-look side despite their recent string of losses to Australia.
“I really think New Zealand will be an unknown package,” she says. “I think the team is fresh and young and got running legs and I think that’s good.”
“I think the Ferns will find it quite different having these young guns out there now,” she says of Kayla Cullen, Bailey Mes and Malia Paseka. “I think sometimes we look at all the history of someone that’s been there but you know the legs do start to play a part in it if they can’t keep running.”
History will count for little when the whistles blow for the 14th Netball World Cup in Sydney on August 7, and Plummer can’t wait.
“It is open and that’s exciting for netball.”
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With three world championships to her name – one as a player and two as coach – Norma Plummer is excited, and somewhat surprised, to be heading to another.
But she expects her native country to be tough to knock over on home soil.
“I can’t see Australia, at this particular point in time, being beaten but you never know in these situations.”
Plummer – who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia award for her services to netball in 2013 – has already shown through their efforts against the Silver Ferns, that South Africa are a side driven to improve on their ranking of sixth in the world and showcase their talents against the leading nations.
“Funny things can happen at these World Cups because there’s a lot of pressure to deal with day in and day out,” Plummer says. “For us it’s about our ranking and the performance we put out there – I think we can give a few people a fright.”
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 1
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 2
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 3
Read more: Norma Plummer Part 4
The top four nations – including Australia, New Zealand, England and Jamaica – will toss up a few surprises over the 10-day tournament, she says.
Having spent some time in England since the last world championships she has been impressed with what she has seen and felt they were unlucky to not medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year.
“Australia would not have won Commonwealth Games gold if England had shot that penalty, so that is a team that everyone is going to have to watch,” Plummer says. “They have got a new coach so we don’t really know what that brings to the mix but they’ve certainly got the goods.”
The former Australian Diamonds coach said it would be important for the likes of England to arrive in Sydney with an “intensity” to match finals Netball.
“We’ve had to change the World Series now to make it more competitive, hitting teams earlier in the round,” she says. “It’s probably a really good thing and makes everyone sharper.
“But if you fall to one of the big teams early on it can be a big task picking yourself back up again – England found that at Comm Games with a couple of close losses.”
She sees Jamaica as a side which has improved in this area under the tutelage of another former Australian national coach, Jill McIntosh.
“With Jamaica you just never know,” Plummer says. “And when you’ve got a Romelda (Aiken) and a (Jhaniele) Fowler-Reid in a team, oh my God, how lucky are you?”
She hopes Fowler-Reid will deliver more in Sydney than she did at Glasgow last year after being “disappointed” with her performance at the Commonwealth Games.
“They’ve got two big tall talent factors in there and they could do anything. You’ve just got to be ready on the day.”
But when it comes to her greatest netballing nemesis – the Silver Ferns – Plummer will be keeping a close eye on the new-look side despite their recent string of losses to Australia.
“I really think New Zealand will be an unknown package,” she says. “I think the team is fresh and young and got running legs and I think that’s good.”
“I think the Ferns will find it quite different having these young guns out there now,” she says of Kayla Cullen, Bailey Mes and Malia Paseka. “I think sometimes we look at all the history of someone that’s been there but you know the legs do start to play a part in it if they can’t keep running.”
History will count for little when the whistles blow for the 14th Netball World Cup in Sydney on August 7, and Plummer can’t wait.
“It is open and that’s exciting for netball.”
Want more great insights like this, PLUS cool videos and special offers? Join the team and become a SilverFan today!