KEY POINTS:
After orchestrating a five-goal win over Australia in the opening test, Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken hopes her young guns can once again lead the way in this weekend's final test in Brisbane.
The complexion of the New Zealand team virtually changed overnight in the lead-up to the
Australian series following the withdrawal of captain Julie Seymour and veteran defender Leana de Bruin.
In came Steel midcourters Liana Barrett-Chase and Wendy Telfer as cover and the average age of the team dropped dramatically.
There were serious questions as to how this young Kiwi side would stand up against the Australians given they struggled to adjust to changes to their line-up in their recent series against England, which led to the "midweek disaster" - a shock 40-38 loss to the English in the second test.
But after finding her side down 15-7 after the first break in the opening test against Australia, Ferns coach Ruth Aitken was forced to go to her bench very early in the match.
Debutant Barrett-Chase was introduced to the game at wing-attack, while Steel defender Katrina Grant came on at goal-defence for her third test cap.
It only occurred to Aitken later that the addition of the pair meant there were five players on court who were in the Under-21 team that won the World Youth Cup in 2005.
"It was just really lovely to look out there and see there were five of the last World Youth Cup team on at that point in time and that's a pretty amazing thing," said Aitken.
"It's sort of like there's been a transformation in the team almost overnight, in that there used to be the three youngies in Maria [Tutaia], Laura [Langman] and Casey [Williams], who we actually now think as oldies really. But to have five of them on under-23 or so was just stunning."
The changes had the desired effect, with the Ferns quickly pegging back an eight-goal deficit to trail by just one goal at halftime, before taking control of the match in the second half.
With the injured Seymour unlikely to be back for the second test, Aitken will have to rely on her young guns to once again do the job in the second and final test in Brisbane this weekend.
While there are no guarantees Barrett-Chase and Grant will get a start on Sunday, Aitken is confident if the pair are called upon, they will make an impact.
"That's certainly what we're working to is we can bring players off the bench and they can do what's needed and make a difference and I think both Katrina and Liana have shown they can do that really well."
