By Sarah Nealon
Are netball's stars going to have to make a choice?
When the Northern Force meet the Southern Sting in tonight's Coca-Cola Cup semifinal in Invercargill, they will be without their key midcourter, Jenny-May Coffin, who is in Australia playing touch rugby for New Zealand.
Last time the two teams met,
a month ago, the Sting were without shooter Donna Loffhagen, who was playing basketball for New Zealand.
The netball season is becoming a year-round event and players may soon find themselves having to make a firm commitment to one sport.
But the Force say they do not see Coffin's absence as a major problem.
They have five other Silver Ferns to rely on - captain Linda Vagana, Lorna Suafoa, Sheryl Clarke, Teresa Tairi and Sonya Hardcastle - enough to worry Sting coach Robyn Broughton.
But with only two losses in this year's event and a sellout, parochial home crowd, the Sting have to be favourites to win tonight.
Fresh from last weekend's shock loss to the lowest-ranked side, the Magic, the Force will be desperate to show an improvement in form.
The most confident coach is the Otago Rebels' Georgina Salter, who has no doubts her team will beat the Auckland Diamonds in the other semifinal, on Sunday.
The Rebels, the defending champions, have three Silver Ferns on their side, Anna Rowberry, Lesley Nicol and Belinda Colling. Colling is the second-most accurate shooter in the competition, with an 84 per cent success rate.
