Netball: Team's confidence running hot

By JULIE ASH at the World championships

Netball's world championships have provided Silver Ferns assistant coach Leigh Gibbs with plenty of highs and lows over the past 24 years.

As a player, she was part of the New Zealand team who shared the world championship crown with Trinidad and Tobago and Australia in 1979. In 1987, she captained the side to success in Glasgow.

"I think that longevity is valuable," Gibbs said, "because there is nothing like a world championship event. It is unique."

Whether these championships are special for Gibbs and the Silver Ferns will be determined in the next few days.

"We are really pleased with what we are seeing on court," she said. "We are always striving for improvement, but the receptiveness and the courage and confidence of the team are really good.

"We were very encouraged by the game against England. When it was 19-all, we absorbed the pressure and that was good.

"In that third test against England last month they didn't do that so well; they waited until the end to pull away. This time they pulled away early and maintained it.

"But up until that game they hadn't really had that tough competition and it does take some adjustment.

"But we knew coming into this tournament that that was going to be the case.

"In every world tournament I have been involved with it has been the same.

"You have a whole lot of easy games, then strike some extremely hard ones in direct contrast. It is just the way it is."

New Zealand played their final pool game against Fiji yesterday and have today off before playing Samoa in the quarter-finals and Jamaica in the semis on Sunday.

"Clearly, Jamaica are a lot tougher when they are home, when they have their crowd behind them," Gibbs said.

"I think their players have been pretty impressive. They have played a series of combinations."

New Zealand, too, have tried a series of combinations, but the strength of their bench has been criticised, especially the goal attack and goal defence positions.

"We feel we have got strong enough combinations," Gibbs said. "We are really encouraged by the way Anna Scarlett has come on at goal defence and Tania Dalton has grown. I think a lot of people forget Tania played goal attack for the Force and for Waikato.

"As a goal attack Tania is quite different from Belinda [Colling] and Anna is quite different to Sheryl [Clarke] - which is what we need.

"We feel confident with the players we have got, but what happens on court is anyone's guess.

"In your mind you can have a plan [and] have tried the plan out, but whether it works on game day is something else, so you have to have options."

Gibbs has been assistant coach since Ruth Aitken became coach in 2001.

"The assistant coach role is not a new one. We have followed Australia, who have had one for a while. It is a really good concept.

"How Ruth and I work it is that we discuss and talk through the preparation of both the attack and defence, but then during the game we tend to split and I go to the defence and Ruth the attack.

"But that isn't saying there isn't a crossover of information - we just like to keep it to a minimum and not overload the players."

Gibbs said she was happy being the deputy: "I am thoroughly enjoying being an assistant. Ruth is great to work with.

"She uses the knowledge of her senior players as well as the sports science team and the medical team. She is good at including everyone."

Inside track

Name: Leigh Gibbs.

Lives: Gisborne.

Status: Married with two children.

Career highlights:

1978-1989: Silver Fern.

1986-87: Silver Ferns captain.

1993-97: Silver Ferns coach.

1988- 93: Canterbury coach.

1998-1999: High-performance manager for Welsh Netball.

2001: Canterbury Flames coach.