KEY POINTS:
Sport is loaded with aphorisms to fit all sorts of occasions.
They include the one about not giving a sucker an even break; keeping the foot on a rival's throat and respecting the opposition.
The Silver Ferns got a swift revision course on all three this week as
England pulled off one of sport's more remarkable form reversals. Tonight's decider has suddenly become a whole different ball game.
First consider the events of Dunedin on Wednesday night. England arrived on the end of a 39-goal drubbing two nights earlier.
They are ranked No 3 in the world. It's the All Blacks whipping, say, the Wallabies by 80 points. It shouldn't happen, in terms of the health of the particular sport.
Afterwards, England captain Karen Atkinson insisted the Silver Ferns could still be beaten. As she should, otherwise why bother coming?
Cue nationwide guffaws. After all, England had only ever beaten New Zealand twice in 68 internationals before Dunedin, which rather overlooks the fact one of them was only in May last year.
And it completely ignores the point that England were without a key defender, Geva Mentor, which obliged a series of positional changes, moving players out of their best roles.
The Silver Ferns made a mix of errors on Wednesday, on and off court.
Coach Ruth Aitken probably felt the time was right to keep happy those fans clamouring to see fresh faces.
So she rejigged her entire attacking three, when tinkering with two at most would have been smarter. If, by halftime, all was well then certainly clear the bench.
Her decision doubtless steeled England. Their Australian coach Sue Hawkins indicated a sense of being disrespected seeped through her players when they saw the New Zealand lineup.
New Zealand seemed to be treating England as another ho-hum outing. After all, who pulls back 39 goals in two days?
That attitude permeated the commentary box too.
There was an unwillingness to say what the eyes were seeing, that the Silver Ferns were being boxed round the ears by committed, sharper opponents playing out of their skins and this time with their best players in their preferred positions.
Even inside the last two minutes when it was apparent New Zealand were all but gone, the commentators sounded as if they would still get up.
The attitude of "don't worry viewers, they'll still win it in the end" was smug and did England a disservice.
That should be the last time Irene van Dyk is seen at goal attack. When you have the world's finest goal shoot, that's where she should play.
Instead van Dyk, who looks less comfortable the further away from the hoop she is, was put through a different hoop by Sonia Mkoloma, the player of the match, and one of the game's smartest defenders.
Which brings us to tonight.
Tipping time. At the risk of facing accusations of hedging my bets, one of two things will happen: the Silver Ferns will win reasonably comfortably - say 10 goals, certainly not 39 - having returned to their No 1 lineup, and will play something like it; or it will be desperately close.
That scenario would rely on two elements: New Zealand being twitchy in their desperation to put things right, and England having the wherewithal to recognise that they have a glorious chance against a rattled opponent.
Ultimately, it's all about who is up to the job of seizing the night.
