KEY POINTS:
She's been given the green light to take the court for the Silver Ferns tonight, but Laura Langman will have to push for her place back in the starting seven in the world champions' side.
With Langman's fractured left foot "no longer an issue", the world No 1
side are back to full strength, six games away from a successful defence.
Twenty-one-year-old Langman is guaranteed to play in the next three days, as New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken intends to give all 12 players court-time in the opening two pool games, against the Malawi Queens tonight and Wales on Monday.
But Aitken made it clear that her place at centre - her favoured position in the wake of Temepara George's departure - isn't a given. During her six-week rehabilitation, other Ferns had stepped up their game.
"She sure is ready to play, but she will have to push past a few other people first," Aitken said yesterday after the Ferns' final full training session on Auckland's North Shore.
"We have a number of different options in our lines. We haven't made the decision yet as to who will start, but we will make sure for the first two games we get all our players out there. It will be a balance of continuity and keeping the players in touch."
While a fully-fit Langman would be first choice in the centre, the Ferns' other midcourt options are Julie Seymour or rookie Maree Bowden. A trimmed Sheryl Scanlan is an obvious option at wing defence.
The reconfirmation of the Ferns 12 yesterday proved wrong Australian coach Norma Plummer's forecast that George would sneak back into the New Zealand side. When asked if Aitken regretted not having the experienced midcourter for this campaign, she answered predictably: "I'm delighted with the team I have."
Aitken joined Langman in a deep sigh of relief yesterday when the final 12 for the eight-day world championships was confirmed, 24 hours ahead of today's midday deadline - "when the team will be in another headspace", Aitken said.
Langman learned the news with the rest of the team: "I gave it the 'oh thank God'," she said. "The recovery plan has gone absolutely perfectly. I don't feel [the fracture] at all now, so it's not an issue."
A shudder ran though the Silver Ferns in the dying minutes of yesterday's training run, as goal keep Casey Williams fell to the court and grabbed at her troubled left knee.
Just as the Ferns began to get adventurous with their passes, Williams tangled with shooter Maria Tutaia beneath the hoop, and for an anxious few minutes, the medical team hovered over her.
The Ferns' key defender walked out her warm-down with a precautionary ice pack clamped to her knee, but the knock is unlikely to keep her off court tonight.
New Zealand are no strangers to 11th-hour injuries so all six extra New Zealand squad members who trained with the Ferns this week remain on stand-by until midday.
The championships' transfer from Fiji to Auckland, and the subsequent four-month delay has condensed the tournament to eight days and means only three pool games before the final rounds.
The Silver Ferns have one of the weakest pools - Malawi and Botswana are both unranked and Wales are 14th - but Aitken is confident they will get enough competitive play before the quarter-finals.
"Changing the venue has definitely been a challenge for the World Championships, and in future I think they will go back to having more teams, and I would certainly prefer more games in a pool," she said.
"But you work with what you're dealt."
The Ferns have had a very internal build-up in the past 10 days, playing games only within their squad after other nations declined their invitations. Aitken believes it's enough to cope with the intense eight days ahead.
"As you've seen today [alluding to Williams' fall] we push each other pretty hard. The squad has provided us with some really strong competition. We're ready to adjust to anything," she said.
