Netball: Dual goals for series

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken has a tough job deciding on her team for the final test.

The series has provided her with a dual aim.

As world champions, she wants to continue to maintain the psychological advantage over Australia by winning, but she also wants to develop younger players in the white-hot environment of test netball.

She has had partial success both ways.

Aitken gave goal-attack prospects Angela Mitchell and Jodi Te Huna half a game each in Sydney and rested skipper Lesley Nicol in the final quarter, giving Victoria Edward playing time.

Defender Anna Scarlett also had time on court in that encounter.

There was a strategy change in Perth. Aitken started with Te Huna at goal attack, blending her in with experienced hands Irene van Dyk, Temepara Clark and Adine Wilson.

But on defence she started with Scarlett and Joline Henry, before resorting to the stalwarts, Vilimaina Davu and Sheryl Scanlan, later on.

Mitchell and Amigene Metcalfe were waiting in the wings in Perth, but Aitken maintained her attacking four for the whole game and Australia struggled to match them.

She admitted after the Perth win that she and assistant coach Leigh Gibbs had a "juggle" on their hands.

"We will be reassessing things. Certainly we want to look at getting players on court where they can learn in this environment but we also want to nail the series."

Starting the Perth match with youngsters Te Huna, Scarlett and Henry in the starting line-up had its purpose.

"There is nothing like having that tension at the start. Players need to be put in that environment.

"Australia start extremely well all the time, they are really fast but I felt we stemmed that speed and made things difficult for them in Perth."

Scarlett, who threw herself into the fray, and Henry performed well before she opted for changes.

"Being able to have the luxury of having those old heads come on ... after they have sat there and looked at it for a while and realised that they have to make their mark because there are some young ones stepping up, that's very healthy for the good of the team."

The Australians seemed thrown by the changes.

Defender Alison Broadbent said the change of tack was difficult to counter.

"They played a different type of game to what we'd been practising on," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Te Huna and Scarlett have been the development successes so far this tour and seem likely to figure in Aitken's plans tomorrow, but whether Henry, Edward and Metcalfe get any game time remains to be seen.

- NZPA