KEY POINTS:
Truckloads of defenders, match-starved shooters and misaligned mid-courters are causing a selection conundrum for Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken heading towards the world championships.
In an effort to resolve her dilemmas, Aitken heads to Christchurch today to see Flames and Rebels players who haven't had game exposure for
three weeks. Then she flies back to Auckland for the National Bank Cup final tomorrow night, where at least six will be unconsciously pushing for Silver Ferns honours.
Aitken will name her trialists - likely to be between 17 and 20 players - on Saturday for the three-day trial in Auckland next weekend.
All 15 players in the Silver Ferns squad are invited, with those on the cusp - the likes of Flames shooter Jade Topia, Sting centre Liana Barrett-Chase and shooter Daneka Wipiiti.
From there, the selectors name a team of 12 to play Jamaica and Australia in five tests next month, but Aitken hopes this will be the team who defend the world title in November.
"We hope this team will go to through to the world champs; it's not our intention to make big changes before then," she said yesterday.
"We don't want to have another trial before November. It's unfair to those who haven't been playing."
Aitken's headaches begin with the defence - for once, she has an overload of talent. In the squad alone, she has five strong options - Casey Williams, Joline Henry, Sheryl Scanlan, Leana de Bruin, and Anna Scarlett - but room for only four in the team.
"We've got them in truckloads, and they've all played well at different times, but we need to cut back to four," Aitken said.
The issue at the shooting end is the lack of time Jodi Te Huna and Paula Griffin have had on court this season; Te Huna with the Rebels who failed to make the top four, and Griffin who spent more time on the bench than on court for the Diamonds. The selectors were also impressed with Topia's performance in England as a Ferns training partner.
Aitken is sticking by her No 1 shooter, Irene van Dyk, in the wake of criticism of her recent test performances against Australia and England.
"Irene has started to answer her critics. She knows she needs to keep working on her game, and I have great confidence in her ability to get where we want her to be," she said.
The Silver Ferns midcourt fell short on last month's tour of England, especially in feeding the shooters. The last series also highlighted the need for a back-up wing attack for captain Adine Wilson.
The standard of play in the National Bank Cup has been mixed in Aitken's eyes - at times "extremely high", but lacking consistency.
"I'm as much to blame as anybody, for taking players away to England halfway through," she said. "But I was really pleased to see key Ferns come back and raise their standards."
Netball New Zealand is opening the last day of the Silver Ferns trial, Sunday July 1, to the public - at 11am at the ASB Stadium in Kohimarama. Ticket prices are a fraction of a test price - adults $10 and children $7 - to give more people the chance to see the Ferns in action, Aitken said.
