Netball: Improve fitness, Ferns told

By RICHARD BOOCK

The Silver Ferns have been told to improve their fitness over the coming months or risk another unsuccessful world championship campaign.

The players who monstered South Africa 86-37 in the second test at Christchurch begin their so-called off-season today, almost certainly with coach Ruth Aitken's pleas about fitness ringing in their ears.

Having already downed the tourists 71-33 in Auckland on Friday night, New Zealand made a noticeable improvement in the rematch on Saturday night, dominating in all areas of the court and winning all but one quarter by 12 goals or more.

The downside was that the Ferns were never genuinely tested during an appalling mismatch, and possibly could have gleaned more from a training run.

Aitken, who saw her side crush the South Africans 21-8 in the first period, 20-13 in the second, and 21-9 and 24-7 in the third and fourth, was adamant where the improvements needed to be made.

"There's a positive feeling within this team that we have great potential and that anything's possible, but to give ourselves the best chance we need to lift ourselves and particularly our fitness, because that's where the tight games can be won or lost.

"We found out in Manchester that it was no longer adequate to prepare yourself for a 60-minute game of top international netball, so we have to concentrate on lifting our fitness levels during the off-season."

New Zealand were pipped by Australia in the Commonwealth Games final at Manchester, after a 78-minute double-overtime thriller and one of the most physically demanding games of netball ever played.

Aitken said the lesson from that experience was clear: the players needed to go the extra mile and put in more fitness work in the coming months, so that they could approach the world champs in Jamaica with confidence.

The Ferns were untroubled in grabbing the second test by the scruff of the neck from the outset, despite the fact they had been together for only 48 hours and Aitken had opted for a major reshuffle of her starting line-up.

In contrast with Friday night, Irene van Dyk teamed up with Angela Evans in the shooting circle, Adine Harper slotted in at wing-attack, Vic Edward at wing-defence, and 19-year old Anna Scarlett won her first start, at goal-defence.

By the time the match was over Aitken had used her entire bench, introducing Lesley Nicol, Anna Veronese, Jenny-May Coffin, Belinda Colling and Sheryl Clarke at various times as she assessed combinations.

Possibly the most noticeable contribution came from Coffin, who revelled in the extra space allowed by the South Africans and turned on the razzle-dazzle around the circle edge, threading near impossible passes through to her shooters.

But Aitken would have also been pleased with the efforts of Evans, Scarlett and Harper, and the rampaging presence of goal-keep Vilimaina Davu.

On the other hand, South Africa could claim to have taken the most out of the series after arriving with a relatively inexperienced squad and living with the intensity of the Ferns for long stages on Friday night at least.

And although the Proteas' mid-court appeared a shade unstable in both tests, they were well-served in the shooting circle by Elsje Jordaan and Adele Joncker, and there was some sterling work from center-cum-wing-attack Liezel Wium.