Louisa Wall: Silver Ferns find the mongrel within

COMMENT

I love it when Aussie crowds chant "Kiwi! Kiwi!" Perth seems to have been invaded by New Zealanders, and it seemed as if more than half of the 4500 strong crowd at this week's netball test were Kiwis. And didn't this make a difference in the Silver Ferns' performance.

I was one of the die-hard fans who woke up to support the Silver Ferns. What a reversal in form from the first test - and how relieved I was with the outcome.

The Silver Ferns showed a little more mongrel, which I translate as commitment and determination. Mongrel is someone who won't give an inch, is hungry for the ball and will commit their all to secure possession.

The collision of bodies mostly occurs when you have not done enough work to beat your opponent before you receive the ball. Contact based on one's lack of skill is different from contact based on one's ability to read the game.

If you know what the opposition is trying to achieve then there will be contact, as the only point of difference is the speed at which the transfer of the ball takes place. So if you are a defender, you are always trying to anticipate what will happen next and if you are not quite fast enough, then collisions are likely.

The Silver Ferns got off to a slow start in the first game, which made sense given the timing of the series. The timing of our respective seasons always suits one team over the other, even if it is only a slight advantage. The Aussie national championships finished on October 23 and our NPC ended on September 24. So we had a month less of playing before the start of the series.

The series held in New Zealand in late June and early July suited us given it came after our National Bank Cup, which ended on June 18.

So, the fact that the Aussies were rarin' to go for this series should not have been a surprise to anyone.

In the first test, we were sluggish and our timing was off. It took us a test to warm up and to be ready to play at the intensity required.

And, did we miss Belinda Colling? Yes, we did. Her absence at goal attack was the other defining feature of the first test.

Angela Mitchell took a while to settle in and the first half of the first test was well below an acceptable standard as world champions. We won the second half but in the final analysis this was not good enough.

In the second test there was a lot more work off the ball to make space available when needed and better timing and co-ordination on court. Hence, not as much contact.

I hope Liz Ellis plays when the teams meet in the third and final test in Melbourne tonight. As the Aussie key circle defender and captain she has a huge influence and it would be great to beat them at their best.

Either way I am confident of a Silver Ferns victory. Given the depth of talent within the team and those coming through, netball may just be in a golden period.

Yes, we want the Silver Ferns to win every game but it is these games that determine who the overall series winner will be that matter the most.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand rugby and netball representative