Netball: Australia laugh off rough tag

By RICHARD BOOCK

Veteran Australian player Liz Ellis can scarcely believe New Zealand's mindset as the first test approaches in Wellington.

The Australians arrived in the country yesterday to prepare for the three-match Fisher & Paykel series, baffled and amused by the Silver Ferns' reaction to their most recent showdown in Sydney last June.

Much of the talk coming from the New Zealand camp this week has centred around Australia's so-called rough-house approach, and on devising tactics to nullify the threat of their close-marking defence.

Ferns shooters Donna Loffhagen and Belinda Colling both claimed Australia's physical presence in Sydney - where Australia won 62-52 - was excessive.

Captain Bernice Mene spoke of their white-hot intensity, and coach Yvonne Willering of the need to avoid another fracas.

But Ellis said she was dumbfounded by New Zealand's stance, and found it hard not to laugh about the idea of one side whingeing about the other being too tough.

"Can you imagine the reaction if the All Blacks complained about the Springboks being too physical, or if the Wallabies moaned about the Lions being overly rugged?" she asked. "They'd be laughed out of town.

"In the tri-series, New Zealand played far more aggressively than usual at Melbourne and we were run over as a consequence. If we hadn't stepped things up at Sydney, the same thing would have happened again."

Ellis, who made her international debut in 1994, maintained there was nothing between the teams but an element of psychological intensity and the execution of the game plan on the night.

She said this was illustrated in the past four encounters between the sides, which had been shared two tests apiece.

"It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the only way to respond to a challenge is to meet it head-on," she said. "In international netball, the degree of urgency and contesting will naturally be higher than at any other level."

The world champions surprised New Zealand in Sydney when they changed to an uncharacteristic zone defence, and Ellis said her side would again flirt with a few defensive options to keep the hosts on their toes.

"We alway start with a body-to-body defence - that's the way the game's played in Aussie - and we'll just work quietly away from there and see what happens on the night.

"The switch worked quite well in Sydney but realistically, no one plays a zone defence better than New Zealand, and we wouldn't try to just walk out there and take them on at their own game."

She said the tourists would be interested to see how well New Zealand coped without established wing-defence Lesley Nicol, who is unavailable for this series because of study commitments.

Australian vice-captain Ellis made her debut in the same year as Nicol and rates the Southlander an integral part of the Ferns' defensive strength and a difficult player to replace in a hurry.

"Lesley's so dogged and athletic that she will be hard to replace. It's a big blow for New Zealand in some ways."

The first test is on Saturday night, the second in Invercargill next Wednesday and the third in Christchurch on October 27.