Netball: Intensity goes up for world champs

Silver Fern captain Casey Williams. Photo / Natalie Slade

The Silver Ferns aren't doing things by halves as they prepare for next week's world championships in Singapore - they're doing things by threes.

With just four days to go before New Zealand's opening match against Fiji, Ferns management have ramped up the intensity of the programme before tapering off over the weekend.

Yesterday involved two full-on trainings, with the morning session focussed on revising their attacking strategies before "going at each other" - as assistant coach Waimarama Taumaunu put it - in a series of match simulations in the evening.

Today they have another quick blast out on the training court in the morning before taking on the host team in an evening warm-up game.

Similar fixtures against Malawi and Barbados are scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday respectively.

It is a busy programme, particularly when you consider the team will play six games in seven days next week - although admittedly some of those will amount to no more than opposed training runs for the New Zealand side.

But Ferns defender Joline Henry is finding some comfort in the symmetry of the programme. "We have a bit of a three philosophy going on," said Henry. "As of [yesterday] morning we've got three hard trainings left, three practice matches, three pool play matches and then three games at the business end.

"It's a little bit scary, when I look at the board each day, so I'm just taking it in those little steps of threes because if I look at the programme in its entirety you can get a bit overwhelmed."

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken said with their training times at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall - a venue shared with several other teams - allocated in 90-minute slots, the focus of their sessions is on intensity "rather than keeping them going and going".

Protocols around these training sessions are reasonably strict, with the highly efficient tournament organisers taking a dim view on any team that runs over time. Ice is delivered promptly 20 minutes before the end of the session to allow the team to complete their hot and colds and clear the venue in time for the next team.

The team also appears to be adjusting well to the hot and humid local climate. Temperatures in Singapore sit around the early 30Cs and drop to about 25C at night, but with the Ferns mainly operating in air conditioned environments, that has not been too much of a factor.