Netball: Silver Ferns face pressure to maintain Games legacy

The Silver Ferns have secured a gold or silver medal at each of the five Commonwealth Games where netball has featured. Photo / photosport.nz

New Zealand have played every final since netball's introduction to the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

Cue an earworm from media, and perhaps the public, as the Silver Ferns prepare for the Gold Coast edition in the coming days.

The New Zealanders enter the Games having conceded the Taini Jamison Trophy after dual losses to Jamaica. Add January's defeats to England and Australia in the Quad Series, and the prospects of making another final narrow.

They have won three of their 11 matches since October and 17 of 32 under coach Janine Southby, including two out of 12 against Australia.

Conversely, if the Silver Ferns turn the form guide around and triumph, it will likely be one of New Zealand's more uplifting stories at the Games.

Chances are that will require beating two teams out of Australia, England or Jamaica in the semifinals and final on April 14 and 15.

Southby and captain Katrina Grant acknowledged the weight of expectation when speaking to the Herald at the Games village.

That has been further compounded with the loss of Kayla Cullen to a knee injury. She has been replaced by Claire Kersten.

"We've been reflective over the last week regarding what happened in the Taini Jamison," Southby said. "We need to take a lot more ownership of the court. Players have acknowledged they dipped off towards the end of each quarter, and we know it's not a physical thing. They've got to stay connected and do the jobs they're tasked to."

"Losing to Jamaica twice isn't ideal," Grant added. "But at least we know what they're going to bring."

The captain was asked whether netball remained fun.

"I love the game, even the ups and downs over the last few months.

"I still believe we've got a great bunch of women here. We're building, and over four to six weeks we've made strides. The belief and confidence is growing.

"Even over the last day everyone is standing taller [since coming into the village]. This is a big deal and exactly what we want."

In recent years, netball has struggled to capitalise on the success of an under-21 side who won the most recent youth World Cups in 2013 (under Southby in Scotland) and in 2017 (under Kiri Wills in Botswana).

The demise of the ANZ Championship in 2016 removed more regular transtasman duels, and the development of financially-viable pathways in other mainstream sports like rugby and cricket could threaten netball's sustainability at elite level.

Southby and Grant insist change is on its way, for the better.

"There's no one reason [for the struggle]," the coach said.

"We've had a large number of retirements and people not available due to pregnancies.

"Sometimes we haven't done the development work as well as we could have. We've got to make sure we're preparing players to be Silver Ferns as well as we can. If we get those things right as part of Netball New Zealand's high performance plans, then I have absolute confidence in the Silver Ferns going forward."

Grant said young players had come through in the domestic ANZ Premiership's two-year tenure, compared to teams not risking such players in the latter stages of the transtasman competition.

"We had a number of players involved who were 20 or younger, so I think we'll see the benefit of that in three to four years."