Netball: Young stars shine out with Colling

By Suzanne McFadden

Silver Ferns captain Belinda Colling played mother duck to two of New Zealand netball's shooting stars yesterday.

And while she was leading the way, her adopted Central team thrashed England by 26 goals in the second round of the Star Series in Palmerston North.

Colling was outstanding in and around the shooting circle for Central in their 70-44 win. While running rings around the English defence, she was also tutoring her teenage shooting partners, 16-year-old Daneka Wipiiti and 18-year-old Jodi Te Huna.

Another young shooter of the future, Adine Harper, showed her versatility in playing centre in South's 47-36 win over North yesterday.

Harper, Wipiiti and Te Huna are all part of the Talent2000 squad, working towards next year's world under-21 championships.

They could not ask for a better teacher than Colling, who took control of the shooting responsibilities at goal attack against England, scoring 38 from 48.

Central coach Georgina Salter praised Colling, who she also coaches at home in Otago.

"You had to remember that she had two kids in there who are still learning," she said. "She was helping them as she went.

"But they are both great kids. Jodi has such confidence with the ball - the way she glides and slips - and she proved she could play goal shoot, centre and goal keep.

Daneka was so relaxed - you can see she's going to be a brilliant netballer."

The English, coming off a one-goal win over the North two days before, did not have an answer for the Central offence, which went right back to the driving play of goal defence Belinda Charteris.

"We had total respect for England's capabilities - we just went out to destroy those," Salter said. "I was just amazed that we could keep that up for a whole hour."

England tried four different shooters to no avail. Two of them - Lorraine Law and policewoman Alex Astle - are well over six feet tall, but their consistency under the hoop was questionable.

The tourists were within two for most of the first quarter, but the gap grew out of their control.

South suffered injury woes in their second win of the series, losing shooter Jo Steed with 10 minutes to go, damaging her ankle in a fall under the post.

The Southerners had already lost defender Lesley Nicol to an ankle injury from Friday night's game against Central, so coach Lois Muir tried using shooter Harper at centre - a move which paid off.

It has been a season of change for Harper, who starred at goal defence for the Otago Rebels in the latter stages of the Coca-Cola Cup.

The South-North game was a low-scoring encounter, but the Southerners were always in front.

North rallied under the gutsy efforts by midcourter Megan Dalgety and got within four in the third quarter, but their shooters struggled to find their rhythm.