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MELBOURNE - When rejuvenated Silver Fern Julie Seymour talks about the New Zealand netball team needing more aggression, it's not a call to bring back the biff for tonight's second test against Australia in Melbourne.
At 35, and with 77 caps to her credit since her debut in
1994, Seymour knows better than most exactly what it will take to turn the Silver Ferns around after a seven-goal loss to their trans-Tasman rivals in Auckland on Wednesday.
"Aggression doesn't necessarily mean that physicalness on the ball. It just means that underlying hunger and passion to do anything, to stay with your partner that bit longer, or when someone's passing to you to drive into the ball that much harder.
"If that means aggression, we need more of it."
Seymour, now a mother of three, was recalled to the Silver Ferns last year, and has been featuring off the bench for coach Ruth Aitken at both wing defence and her more accustomed role of centre.
Although the New Zealanders notched up two wins over Jamaica last week, including a record 44-goal victory, they couldn't carry that form through to Wednesday's match against the in-form Australians.
"There's definitely not a hunger missing from the Silver Ferns. We really wanted to win that game," Seymour emphasised yesterday.
"The hunger is always there, believe me.
"Training was really intense today -- people were fired up."
The loss is not one the defending world champions are taking well, especially on the back of the loss in May to England -- the first in over 30 years.
"Against Jamaica, it was our first game back after that disappointment in the UK, and it was like 'right, we're here to show that we mean business'. We need to continue that in every match and keep reminding ourselves of it," Seymour said.
Against Australia three days ago, the Silver Ferns couldn't maintain any sort of consistency, inexplicably throwing away a useful three-goal lead early in the first quarter to trail by seven after 15 minutes. They spent the rest of the match playing catch-up, the Australians controlling play efficiently to secure a comfortable win.
Once the Australians got on a roll, Seymour said, it was very difficult to pin them back.
"They found their rhythm, they got their confidence up. And when you're in the lead, you've just got that little bit more confidence to let the ball go. Your flow and your timing are so much better."
The Silver Ferns have to learn how to fight back from that sort of position, she said.
"You have to try and get those links with each other. At that stage in a game, it's very easy to go insular and focus just on what you should be doing. But you really need to keep that broad vision, get the eye contact, get the talking going with your teammates."
That communication isn't just a one-way street, Seymour emphasised, using her rapport with wing defence-turned centre Laura Langman as an example.
"We all work together. Although I've played more tests than Laura, I really value her opinion. She's been in the team more recently, and has more experience recently against Australia. She's got a wealth of knowledge for her young years.
"It's not one person giving and the other person taking it all in. You've really got to have that connection together, and I think we can both learn things off each other."
Seymour is always ready to learn, and has no worries about where she plays for the Silver Ferns -- up to a point.
"Maybe not goal shoot...
"I enjoy any opportunity to be out on court. I'm very honoured and privileged to have another go playing at this level. This time last year I had no idea -- if you'd told me that a year later I'd be playing against Australia, I wouldn't have believed it.
"It's the pinnacle of the sport and while I still can, I'll give it a go."
- NZPA
