Netball: Healthy pressure on Silver Ferns' mid-courters

By RICHARD BOOCK

The Silver Ferns mid-court have found themselves battling for their lives a shade earlier than expected.

Coach Yvonne Willering's decision to include an extra mid-court player in her squad has resulted not only in a better balance but also a keen rivalry for positions in the lead-up to Saturday's Tri-Nations netball test against Australia in Melbourne.

While questions still hover over whether Belinda Colling or Donna Loffhagen will start at goal-attack, and whether Vilimaina Davu or Linda Vagana will get the nod at goal-keep, the extra option in the mid-court is also causing its share of discussion.

At the heart of the matter is the inclusion of the Magic's outstanding wing-defence specialist Victoria Edward, who provides Willering with the option of promoting the experienced Lesley Nicol into the centre position and putting the squeeze on Temepara George and Adine Harper.

Willering said at the time that the selection of Edward instead of circle defender Anna Veronese was significant in that "it means there is some extra flexibility in our thinking on the mid-court," and captain Bernice Mene confirmed that the respective positions were being hotly contested.

"It's not just the shooting and defence ends, we've got competition right throughout the court for our different positions, and that's a pretty healthy sign," Mene said yesterday.

"Vic Edward has been in good form for the Magic all season, and of course there's Lesley, and Temperara and Adine - there's an awful lot of options right now, and I guess over the next week we'll see the pieces fall into place."

The world champion Australians are bristling with talent throughout the squad, but if there are any slightly vulnerable areas they could be in the mid-court, where the loss of Carissa Tombs and Shelley O'Donnell has been keenly felt, and at goal shoot, where Catherine Cox has been struggling.

However, if instinct fails to serve, history tells us the Australians will be particularly difficult to beat at home, despite any perceived inexperience in the mid-court and the fact that the Silver Ferns won the last outing in South Africa at a canter.

"Australia's mid-court and shooting circle might not be as experienced as their defence end, but you have to remember that they serve long apprenticeships over there," said Mene.

"It's not as if any Australia player comes into a test green." She said the Silver Ferns were in good physical shape and were busy working with one another on the court as much as possible during the build-up in order to develop the necessary degree of cohesion for the Melbourne showdown.

Australia have a chance to find their feet in the Tri-Nations opener against South Africa on Friday night, but New Zealand will have to hit the ground running the following evening to pose a genuine threat to Jill McIntosh's side.

"Everyone's in pretty good shape," said Mene. "There's some fantastic skills coming through and I feel that we have genuine strength right through the court.

"We've been concentrating on playing games against the New Zealand A side and simulating match situations. Saturday night's effort was your typical first practice, with a few too many mistakes and a bit of rustiness, but I felt we were much better today."