KEY POINTS:
Rediscovering their intimidation factor will be top of the Silver Ferns' list as they prepare for their second showdown against Australia in Auckland tomorrow.
The New Zealand side didn't appear to have their trademark defensive intensity about them in Wednesday night's 53-51 loss in the opening test, with
the turnovers coming from Australia few and far between.
In the past Kiwi sides have prided themselves on their tough, uncompromising defence, but the Ferns just couldn't seem to crack the patient Australians in Christchurch.
New Zealand defender Casey Williams admitted her side struggled to make an impact defensively but couldn't quite put her finger on why.
"I just don't think we picked up enough ball and for a team like Australia you have to try and upset their rhythm and we just weren't able to do that," said Williams, who required stitches to her eye after copping a massive blow early on in Wednesday night's match.
Given the athletic Williams has become accustomed to topping the intercept count in matches, she said it was frustrating not being able to snare more possession for her side, with Australia taking a patient, methodical approach.
"It was annoying, there were hardly any big cross court passes or forced balls in to the circle, so we just have to make sure we put the pressure on them so they make those sorts of mistakes."
New Zealand's failure to create many turnovers was all the more surprising given the level of inexperience in the Australian side. Hit heavily with injuries and retirements, only two players remained from the team that started last year's World Championship final.
But Australian coach Norma Plummer believes all the new faces in the team actually worked to help limit their errors in the end. She said with so many new combinations on court, they had to sacrifice some of their trademark speed for a more measured approach.
"We needed to work on how we were going to work our combinations and we knew we had to be patient because the defence is relentless. Possession is the name of the game, if you lose possession all the time or try force the ball through, you're not going to capitalise on it."
Also helping Plummer's cause was the fact that she had strong depth to call on, with the likes of new caps Kate Beveridge and Kimberlee Green making a seamless transition to the international arena.
Beveridge was particularly impressive having been unexpectedly thrust into the starting line-up after a late injury to veteran shooter Catherine Cox.
With Cox and fellow star shooters Sharelle McMahon and Natalie Medhurst all missing from last night's match, Plummer is set to have some tough calls to make when she has a fully fit side - not that she is bothered.
"What a great position to be in, I mean yeah, it's going to be tough but in the end it's a long way to 2011 so there's no guarantee the final list is going to be the group we've got at the moment," said Plummer.
"The competition within the group will be great, but it's a healthy competition."
Unfortunately for New Zealand fans, Ferns coach Ruth Aitken can't claim to have the same embarrassment of riches in terms of player depth.
Personnel changes are not really an option for Aitken at this stage, with her only hope for improvement tomorrow night being through making positional switches and tinkering with combinations.
Aitken has already signalled she is prepared to test new combinations with Irene van Dyk starting the opening test match at goal-attack, while Laura Langman made the move to wing-attack and it is likely we'll see more experimentation in Auckland.
"We certainly feel, looking at the start of our four-year cycle, to try some things in the international environment and I thought both Laura and Irene really responded well to it," said Aitken.
