By JULIE ASH
The Cook Islands and Niue netball sides have wrapped up their world championship preparations in Auckland, but will have one last hit-out before they reach Jamaica.
Along with Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, the Cooks and Niue will compete in the South Pacific Games,
which start in Fiji on Monday.
"We are not worrying about Jamaica at this stage," Cook Islands technical adviser Georgina Salter said. "We just want to win back our title as Queens of the Pacific."
The Cook Islands have spent the past three days in Auckland, where they have played the Silver Ferns, the Auckland under-21 side and the club side Carlton.
"We wanted to practise against different styles," Salter said. "We also wanted to work on combinations and develop our strongest seven."
The Cook Islands go into next month's world championships in Jamaica ranked seventh.
But unlike the last event, where the team were mostly New Zealand-based players, this time they are all from the Cook Islands.
"Everyone in the team lives on the islands," Salter said.
"If Cook Islands players living in New Zealand want to come and play for us, then they have to come home and replenish their national pride.
"We want to keep the Cook Islands' pride and spirituality high."
The Cook Islands are in the same pool as NZ, Fiji and England.
"If we use all our resources and play our best we should be able to maintain our position in the top eight," Salter said.
The Niue side are coached by Aucklander Tania Karauria and go into the world championships ranked 25th.
In contrast to the Cook Islands team, the Niue side are mostly New Zealand-based players.
They will play two qualifying games once in Jamaica to decide which pool they will go in.
