Netball: Ferns told to get tough to survive

By RICHARD BOOCK

The Silver Ferns are trying to shake off their jolly hockey sticks image for tonight's make or break test against Australia.

Already 1-0 down after a patchy effort in Wellington, New Zealand have to beat the world champions at Stadium Southland to keep the Fisher and Paykel series alive - and they are prepared to sacrifice a degree of friendliness for the cause.

Whatever they might have to say about their opponents, the Ferns have tended to adopt a congenial and blameless philosophy when it comes to their own play, something which goal attack Belinda Colling said had been addressed during the week.

Colling, who sat on the bench in Wellington and watched New Zealand's attack struggle on the edge of the circle, is expected to be offered a bigger role tonight in attempting to find an answer to the twin defensive threats of Kathryn Harby-Williams and Liz Ellis.

"We turned over a lot of ball in that first test and it's important that we deal better with the heightened pressure this time around," Colling said.

"We need to be a lot more ruthless with each other and a lot less forgiving when we make silly mistakes. It's important to get on well as a team, but it's also important to understand that it's not okay to be throwing the ball away frivolously, and giving Australia extra opportunities.

"It's absolutely crucial that we treasure our possession and make best use of it. In a nutshell we need to pick up our standards and be harder on ourselves."

Colling shared the goal attack duties with Donna Loffhagen during the Tri-Nations series this year and struck up a solid combination with star goal shoot Irene van Dyk, who benefited from the Canterbury captain's superior circle work and distribution skills.

Last Saturday, Loffhagen - usually a better shooter than Colling - found herself playing a similar passing game and managed to put up just 10 shots, leaving van Dyk with a far-heavier scoring burden than expected.

Colling was tightlipped about her chances of playing tonight and would only say "who knows," but she has shot accurately at practice and seems a strong possibility after the Wellington disappointment.

A gifted ball-handler and an expert at creating space for her hunting partner, the 26-year-old said the atmosphere in the camp had turned deadly serious after the first test loss. All squad members were hellbent on levelling the series.

"If we want to win the series we've gotta win this test - that's the bottom line," she said. "The emphasis has been on driving the ball through the court, because I don't think we had much flow in Wellington, and improving our feeding into the shooting circle - which was an obvious problem."

The 47-test campaigner believes it is important to use both feeding channels - to the goal shoot and the goal attack - in order to split the Australian circle defence and create extra space and time for the Ferns' shooters.

"It boils down to timing, movement and, above all, a cohesive understanding. Hopefully we'll have that for this match."

Australia: Kathryn Harby-Williams (capt), Liz Ellis, Jane Altschwager, Alison Broadbent, Bianca Chatfield, Jacqui Delaney, Alex Hodge, Sharelle McMahon, Nicole Richardson, Rebecca Sanders, Eloise Southby, Peta Squire.

New Zealand: Bernice Mene (capt), Sheryl Clarke, Jenny-May Coffin, Belinda Colling, Vilimana Davu, Victoria Edward, Temepara George, Adine Harper, Donna Loffhagen, Julie Seymour, Linda Vagana, Irene van Dyk.