Netball: Aussies are sent packing - at last

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

In the showers after the Silver Ferns had pummelled world netball champions Australia yesterday, New Zealand shooter Belinda Colling told the rest of the side what she thought of them.

Her simple message: "This is my dream team."

It was a huge transformation from three months ago, when the Silver Ferns were racked by ructions in the wake of a thumping from the Australians.

There had been unrest in the camp among a faction of players, and coach Yvonne Willering's leadership came under question.

But then Willering made big changes to the line-up. She raised a few eyebrows with the jumble of players - some of them immigrants, others given a second chance at the top.

Yesterday, it seemed she had the recipe right, with the Ferns grinning their way through the 52-40 victory.

"Those problems have been openly discussed and now the team dynamics seem to be right," Willering said.

"We've got a mixture of all different personalities here, but they all get along, and that makes a big difference."

Captain Bernice Mene agreed.

"There's just a buzz about this team. We get on fantastically off the court and that reflects in the way we played tonight. We all connected."

Ice buckets were waiting off-court for the victors - but the champagne was missing.

Celebrations for one of the great wins in New Zealand's recent netball history will have to wait until today, after the Ferns' final test of the year against the hapless South African side.

As soon as the Ferns skipped off the rubber-on-concrete floor at Pietermaritzburg High School, they were unceremoniously dunked into big bins of iced water to speed their recovery for this morning's game.

Nevertheless, there was singing in the showers after the New Zealanders finally managed to dominate the Australians in all four quarters of a match.

For the first time in years, Australia looked like a side in distress.

They scored the first three goals, but then slipped behind.

"We made too many unforced errors, missed too many shots," coach Jill McIntosh said. She credited former Proteas shooter Irene van Dyk with turning New Zealand's fortunes around.

"They brought Irene into this side, worked hard with her, and she has become the focal point of the team."

Van Dyk's shooting statistics were not up to her usual unbelievable percentages - this time scoring 43 from 52 attempts (83 per cent).

But with sublime feeding from Colling, in only their second game together, she got on top of hardened Australian defenders Liz Ellis and Kathy Harby-Williams.

Mene was in a class of her own at the back of the court, snapping up Australian passes that were uncharacteristically awry, and shaking the confidence of whoever they stuck in the shooting circle.

But the standout performer in the Ferns' effort was diminutive centre Temepara George, who scurried from circle to circle like a terrier.

An intercept she stole at an Australian pass-off, with the score 23-21 in the Ferns' favour, was the turning point in the game.

New Zealand then scored the next six goals, setting up a 31-24 lead at halftime.

Willering described George as an inspiration, and even South African coach Elize Kotze called her the brains of the team.

George, a mother of two, refused to take any credit. "Everyone else did the work - I just had to run around and reach for the ball."

Willering gave all the credit to her team, refusing to consider that the Australians had an off-day or were tired 24 hours after pulverising the South Africans.

"We won it on our good play, not their errors," she said.

"If Australia wanted to win tonight, they were going to have to work their butts off for it."

The New Zealanders found it a little strange scoring the big win for a neutral crowd of 500 in a school gym.

"It's funny because it was such an important game to us, but the locals just came along to watch a game of netball," Willering said.

"But we were really impressed that they got behind us - maybe it was because of the little New Zealand flags we gave them before the game."

New Zealand 52 (van Dyk 43 from 52, Colling 9 (15). Australia 40 (Catherine Cox 23 (31), Sharelle McMahon 8 (10), Megan Anderson 9 (15). Quarter scores: 15-12, 31-24, 42-32, 52-40.