KEY POINTS:
New Zealand netball coach Ruth Aitken won't be taking long to regroup and recover from yesterday's disappointing 54-47 loss to Australia in Adelaide.
Hamstrung by another slow start -- they were down 12-18 after 15 minutes, 22-30 at halftime and 36-46 with a quarter remaining -- the Silver
Ferns battled gamely but conceded their sixth defeat in eight matches to their trans-Tasman foes.
Aitken at least has the memory of Saturday's dramatic 67-65 extra-time Melbourne win to console her but with New Zealand's squad for the November world championship being named on Monday, there is little time for dwelling on the latest loss.
Which is not to say it doesn't bite deep, or that it will be ignored.
"There's certainly real disappointment, but at the moment we're probably caught up in the emotion rather than the analysis of it," Aitken said soon after last night's defeat.
"We'll need to go back and look at things, but I know when we put our game together, we can match it with the best."
The Silver Ferns were missing fiery centre Temepara George for the last three tests, after she asked for time out for personal reasons when she moved to live with partner Sione Faumuina, now playing rugby league for the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville.
George's return to the Silver Ferns fold -- not certain by any means -- was the subject of some speculation from the Australian media but Aitken was not giving anything away.
"We are definitely going to need more than seven players to win a world championship and I have great confidence in the group that is finally chosen," she said when asked about George's possible inclusion.
Aitken said the selection procedure for the world championship would begin as soon as the team returned to New Zealand later today.
"We'll go back and assess the current group and the ones on the fringe. It's a matter of evaluating where we think this group is at, and where those fringe players are," she said.
"The selectors need to review both the good and the bad from this tour, then see who are the best 12 to take us through to the world championship. Those players will have a short break, then they'll be back into it."
The last word on world championship hopes had to go to Australian coach Norma Plummer.
At the centre of a media scrum, she paused and thought hard when asked if Australia were now favourites for the world championship title.
"Australia? Favourites? Oh, I don't know. New Zealand's got the title at the moment -- I just hope this will take us a little bit closer to it.
"I can afford to have a little smile on my face now, but I'd trade in the smile and the trophies tonight for a win at the end of the year."
- NZPA
