Netball: Old hands ready to stage an upset

A partnership forged in the glory days of the 1990s is tipped to give the Silver Ferns a real run in the decider. RICHARD BOOCK reports.

Former Australian great Vicky Wilson is picking the old firm of Liz Ellis and Kathryn Harby-Williams to play another highly influential part in tonight's deciding transtasman test at Christchurch.

The former Australian world championship-winning captain believes the 144-test combination will pull something extra out of the bag for the match in front of a sellout crowd at WestpacTrust Stadium.

With Silver Fern goal-shoot Irene van Dyk looking so dominant in the first couple of tests, Ellis and Harby-Williams are facing another searching examination, although Wilson reckons they will receive more support from their team-mates this time around.

"They didn't get much of a chance in Invercargill because New Zealand were able to bring the ball through the court so quickly," Wilson said from Queensland yesterday.

"Liz and Kath are a great combination - the best in the world - but they're not superhuman and they need to be part of a collective defensive effort, rather than simply the last line of defence.

"Once the ball gets to the circle-edge it's very difficult for them to do anything, especially when the opposition has someone like Irene in their side.

"The pressure has to come on further up the court."

The few remaining members of the Australian side who swept all before them during the 1990s, Ellis and Harby-Williams have provided the ultimate challenge for any aspiring pretenders, and at one stage were virtually terrorising opposition attack ends all around the world.

Harby-Williams, the Australian captain, was first picked for the side in 1992 and has since played in two world championship-winning teams and the Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning combination at Kuala Lumpur.

The 32-year-old professional netballer, who continues a long line of outstanding South Australian goal-defenders, has skippered the Adelaide Thunderbirds since the start of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy competition.

She led them to minor premiership honours in all four years, and the title in 1998 and 1999.

Ellis is one of the great personalities of Australian women's sport, having managed to juggle her international netball commitments with a legal career, a spot of book-writing, and a looming role on channel 10's Your Championship, a new health and lifestyle show she will host jointly with Brett and Shane Lee, George Gregan and Shane Heal.

Wilson said the 183cm-tall Ellis might be shorter than van Dyk, but she had an explosive vertical jump and the positional nous to make life difficult for the New Zealand shooters.

"Liz's athleticism possibly compensates for any height disadvantage and I've no doubt that she'll be a tough one-on-one proposition again in Christchurch," she said.

"But Liz's greatest asset is her speed and quickness; her ability to see an opportunity before anyone else, and to pounce.

"When you put that together with Kath's mobility and her court vision, you end up with a pretty potent force, and that's what we've seen with Australia in recent years."

The word's top goal-shoot before the rise of van Dyk, Wilson said the other strong side of Ellis' and Harby-Williams' game was their outlet pass, which frequently sparked Australia's mid-court and created good opportunities for their shooters.

"I think it might be a tight one," Wilson said of the test.

"But I think they'll come through if it is."