Today's second test against Jamaica in Kingston will be the Silver Ferns' last hurrah of the year, but they won't have much to cheer about on the way home unless they can finish the season on a winning note.
After a patchy start to the season, the Kiwi side needs
a strong performance to reaffirm they are on the right track heading in to next year's Commonwealth Games.
The Ferns have won only five of their 10 internationals this season and need to beat Jamaica to ensure they finish the year on the positive side of the ledger.
Shooter Maria Tutaia said it was important for her side's morale that they make a strong statement against the dangerous Jamaican side.
"There's nothing worse than going home ending your season with a loss, so even though we're really excited to be coming home we've got a job to doout on court tomorrow and we won'tbe satisfied unless we really go out there and nail it," she said.
But there is more than just the Silver Ferns' confidence at stake. The next batch of IFNA rankings, due out on October 31, will determine the seedings for next year's Commonwealth Games and the Ferns are mindful a heavy loss could jeopardise their position in the top two.
In the latest world rankings released in July, just four percentage points separated New Zealand from the No 3 England side.
With that in mind, New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken is likely to stick to making only conservative changes. There could be a midcourt reshuffle for today's test, with the possibility Liana Barrett-Chase may get a run, having not taken the court for the Ferns in a full international since their opening test win against Australia last month.
However, the Ferns are wary of the hosts' strengths. The Jamaicans proved this week they are more than capable of toppling a top two side, upsetting world champions Australia in their second test on Monday after narrowly going down to the Diamonds the previous day.
Growing confidence in combinations and a steely resolve under pressure saw the Ferns shrug off a spirited challenge from the "Sunshine Girls" in Wednesday's opening test, but it took 55 minutes for the New Zealand side to secure a decisive lead.
Having managed to stick with the Ferns for most of the match, the Jamaicans will fancy their chances of claiming another top scalp.
Tutaia says her side are mindful of Jamaica's dogged fighting abilities, particularly with a vocal home crowd behind them, and believes the Ferns need to maintain their composure under the physical defence employed by the home side.
"We expect nothing less really, the Jamaican defenders have definitely come a long way to what they were a couple of years back. They had a camera at the game, which they don't usually have, so we know they would have done their homework from last night's game and be seeing how they can counteract us," she said.
The Jamaicans are likely to be doing a lot of homework on Tutaia, who was a stand-out for the Ferns.
With the Jamaican defence kept busy trying to contain the scoring threat of Irene van Dyk, Tutaia was given plenty of room to move in the New Zealand shooting circle. The 22-year-old took advantage of the freedom she was given, landing 32 of her 33 shots at goal for an impressive 97 per cent return.
It was Tutaia's best performance in the black dress in terms of shooting accuracy and volume, but the young star believes there were still plenty of areas she can improve on.
"There definitely were things that went wrong. For me, I think there are individual errors that need to be tidied up on - things like faking the pass - and I'd like to get more ball on defence just to help the others out a bit," she said.
"I am pretty happy with yesterday's performance but I know the real challenge is being able to back it up tomorrow."
SILVER FERNS v JAMAICA
Second test, National Indoor Arena, Kingston
* Today 1pm (Live on TV1)
FERNS' 2009 season
* Aug 24 v World Seven 44-48 L
* Aug 26 v World Seven 44-53 L
* Aug 29 v World Seven 51-46 W
* Sept 6 v Australia 53-50 W
* Sept 9 v Australia 44-48 L
* Sept 13 v Australia 33-36 L
* Sept 20 v Australia 46-47 L
* Sept 23 v Australia 52-36 W
* Oct 16 v England 65-59 W (OT)
* Oct 21 v Jamaica 61-56 W
* Oct 23 v Jamaica
Netball: Only one result will raise Ferns' morale
Shooter Maria Tutaia has said it was important for her side's morale that they make a strong statement against the dangerous Jamaican side. Photo / Getty Images
Today's second test against Jamaica in Kingston will be the Silver Ferns' last hurrah of the year, but they won't have much to cheer about on the way home unless they can finish the season on a winning note.
After a patchy start to the season, the Kiwi side needs
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