KEY POINTS:
Adine Wilson has experienced the good and bad in world championships. In 1999, she sat hunched over on the New Zealand bench and watched in despair as the Silver Ferns were pipped by Australia.
Four years later she was one of the first to leap off the bench
to congratulate her teammates when they ended Australia's 16-year world title reign.
In next year's world championships, it is unlikely the 27-year-old mid-courter will be on the bench. Wilson is more likely to be captaining a New Zealand side desperate to defend their world crown - something which 12 months ago looked pretty certain.
In 2005, the Silver Ferns had the edge over the Aussies, beating them by eight goals in June before going on to secure their biggest victory over their arch-rivals in October.
That winning run continued in March at the Commonwealth Games - but then came to a brutal halt. A much sharper Australian outfit have won three of the last four encounters, casting fears that some of the New Zealand players have passed their use-by date.
But Wilson said: "I definitely don't think we are in the panic stage at all. We have recognised where we let ourselves down and know there are little things we can fix. The whole team has complete faith that, with the people we have in the squad now, we can field a team next year that can beat Australia, England and so on, and become world champions again.
"What we have spoken about is that while we are called world champions, that was the team that won in 2003.
"We have to make sure that we as a team now go on to become world champions."
The Silver Ferns' preparations have been disrupted, with the governing body IFNA's decision to strip Fiji of the tournament following the military coup. Netball NZ will now host the tournament at the later date of November.
The Silver Ferns will play in the National Bank Cup, which has a two-week break in May, when the team will travel to England for a tri-series against the home side and Australia.
"I think that tour is essential," Wilson said. "When we played England at the Commonwealth Games, we won by 15, but their shooting stats weren't that good. If you had put their shooting stats up at a higher percentage, it would have been an extremely close game.
"The word we are hearing is that they have been training really hard and are the fittest they have ever been. We'd hate to get a shock when we get to the world champs and go, 'Wow this is a completely different team, this is a completely different style'."
While some media commentators have predicted the championships will be a two-horse race again, Wilson isn't so sure.
As she points out, Australia and Jamaica drew at the Commonwealth Games, Jamaica then lost to England at the same tournament and, seven months later, Australia beat the Silver Ferns.
"I seriously reckon England, particularly, will be up there this time. If Australia or New Zealand took them for granted, we could be in for a real shock. Hence we are both going there."
As to how to tackle the Norma Plummer-coached Australians, who can now match - if not better - the Silver Ferns in each third of the court, Wilson said they had to be smarter. "We can't play like we have in the past and beat them. They have taken a huge step up so we need to take a big step up again ourselves.
"If we keep doing what we are doing, Australia will do what they did to us - and that was come out with a new game plan that will beat us.
"We have to put something a little bit different out there that Australia, England and Jamaica have not seen before. Be a lot more innovative with our play.
"After the last camp, you could see everyone was so motivated to go home and train so damn hard ... if we get the opportunity to stand on the transverse line and look across at Australia in the world championship final they are going to go, 'Oh my goodness, that is one determined, fit, well-drilled team.'
"You want to prove to yourself more than anyone that this is a really cool team that has the ability and show those knockers that we are not too old, we have still got tricks up our sleeves."
Wilson, who is married to former All Black and Black Cap Jeff Wilson, said she was looking forward to netball's showpiece event but not allowing herself to think about it too much just yet.
"I think if you start to think too specifically about it now, you'll take a bit of the potency away when it gets closer.
"I like to try to keep relaxed and not get too wound up about it. It is important that in December and January, while we are training hard, that I don't overdo the netball thinking."
