Anna Rowberry: Great expectations for test series against Australia

COMMENT

Pregnancy has been the topic of the week - with news of Belinda Colling's pregnancy and that of Peta Scholz of Australia.

There has also been talk from Australian netball that they wouldn't mind giving birth to the Netball New Zealand idea of an annual Bledisloe Cup-style contest between New Zealand and Australia.

First things first - we were all delighted to hear of Belinda's pregnancy and wish her the best and hope she is also back playing soon.

While that was a bit of a bolt from the blue, Belinda was already taking a break because of her well-publicised trip to Scotland with her partner. So the Silver Ferns had already moved to accommodate her absence.

News of Scholz's pregnancy was more of a shock. That, plus Sheryl McMahon's withdrawal through an ankle injury, will hit the Aussies hard.

I should not tempt fate but I think this will help New Zealand, and predict a comfortable victory for the girls in the first test in Sydney on Saturday.

It's also been interesting to hear talk of the focus in Australia on the three-test series after the Silver Ferns won 3-0 earlier this year.

The Australians have been delighted to find that the first test has attracted a record crowd and are keen to play more internationals at home, rather than always travelling.

I think the idea of an annual Bledisoe Cup-style event is not a bad one. It certainly represents a departure for the Australians. Previously, they would never play us at all in a world championship year or a Commonwealth Games year. So we did not play at all in the past two years but will have met six times this year.

While a regular event is a good idea, I would be careful about playing too much against one country. The Bledisloe Cup concept has worked well for rugby but there has also been some comment from players about playing too much against Australia and South Africa in the Tri-Nations.

I think netball's philosophy here is a little different - we like to play against as many different opponents as possible.

We host teams like Barbados here and go to not just Australia but also South Africa and England and elsewhere. It's all about helping to grow the sport internationally.

There is no doubt that Australia and New Zealand are leading the sport at present - but it wouldn't do to focus too much on ourselves. We wouldn't want to do a rugby league where the international side of the game struggles because of Australia's dominance. Nor would it be good to fill the international calendar so full of one opponent that the players begin to experience monotony.

I think Netball New Zealand has a good grip on this and I am sure that these factors and more will be taken into account.

Silver Ferns players have also long felt the importance of our international matches. We wouldn't want the experience to be devalued at all. The girls feel the same way about that far-off day when the game might go professional.

This is not imminent but, even if it was, I think many of the Silver Ferns would keep their real jobs and develop their lives outside the sport.

Don't get me wrong - the girls would jump at the chance of being professional. But most of us have successfully juggled our full-time work with netball. The girls are well-rounded individuals and I think many would continue to work.

It's healthy for you as a person to have interests and a life outside netball. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that having goals outside the sport stimulate and sharpen the mind and make you a better athlete.

But, before we even begin to head down that road, there's the little problem of the Australian netballers to overcome on Saturday. That'll be sharpening the Ferns' minds right now.