Anna Rowberry: Lacklustre Silver Ferns on back foot against Australians

COMMENT

We didn't look like the confident, Silver Ferns machine that has run so well in recent times. We didn't look like we had those connections with each other that an in-form team has. We looked tentative and our timing was out.

I am not intending to be negative here but any analysis of last night's game will show that we were nowhere near as sharp and as together as the Australians - and that's taking into account the inconsistent umpiring and the way Irene van Dyk got bumped all night by Australians who escaped penalty. Meanwhile, we got pulled up whenever we infringed.

That said, I have to hand it to the Australians. I was so impressed with Natalie Avellino. Nine years out of the Australian team and she turned up at wing attack and played so strongly, the lynch-pin of the Australian attacks.

And I have to hand it to the Australian coach, Norma Plummer, for a tactical switch that made a big difference to the game. This was a game of two halves - if you'll pardon the cliche - with Australia winning the first half 31-21 and New Zealand winning the second 23-28. In the first half the Australians' goal attack, Megan Anderson, and goal shoot Catherine Cox, benefitted from a wave of Australian attacks which saw them really flowing freely, firing passes quickly - and making it look easy.

However, in the second half, New Zealand started to catch up and Norma switched things around. We had started to work out the Anderson-Cox combination so she brought on Cynna Neele as goal shoot. That slowed the Ferns up as we had to work out this new combination - and it took the wind out of the comeback. It was a fine piece of tactical thinking.

In comparison, in the first half, we lost our way a bit. It seemed very hard work getting the ball to Irene and she was getting the ball running too much. She is at her best when we can get the ball to her when she is standing in the circle. Add to that the fact that she was getting trodden on from every direction by all manner of Australians - and that there were a lot of calls from the South African and Barbados umpires that did not go her and our way.

That creates an environment of uncertainty and a lack of cohesion and it unsettled Irene. That's also what we saw of the Ferns in the first half - unsettled and uncertain, compared to our usual poise. Angela Mitchell's court play was fine but I felt her confidence was down a bit. When Jodi Te Huna came on, we started working the ball to Irene better. Jodie was strong and she made her mark.

I do not want to dwell on this but we definitely missed the partnership and relationship that Belinda Colling and Irene have built up.

However, having said all of that, there were some bright points for the Silver Ferns. Coach Ruth Aitken used all her bench which will be a good investment for us in the upcoming tests. Victoria Edwards came on and added more speed in that last quarter and Anna Scarlett came on and performed well in defence.

Now we have to focus on the rest of the series. The first one is always a real tester and I'd say we have to focus on getting our combinations right and our confidence back. In the meantime, congratulations to the Australians, particularly to Avellino and to the coaching staff.