KEY POINTS:
Rotation. It's a word that strikes fear into the heart of any sports-mad Kiwi fan.
Up until now it has been solely associated with Graham Henry's Rugby World Cup campaign.
Now it seems to have switched codes, with Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken's desire to test out new
combinations in last week's test series against England being branded as a "rotation policy".
Once an innocent word, "rotation" is now the harbinger of doom and not surprisingly Aitken isn't too happy commentators are now labelling any changes she makes with the R-word.
"I think it's easy to generalise and I think it's actually quite unfair really," Aitken said yesterday before her team left for Melbourne for the first of two tests against Australia.
Unfair is probably right.
The curious thing is, before last week's series against England, Aitken was often criticised for being too conservative with her changes.
Had she stuck with her same starting seven for the second test, there is little doubt she would have come under fire for not giving her bench players any opportunities - particularly when the media is constantly pointing to a lack of depth in New Zealand netball.
The only way to build depth is to give those players a chance, and few could blame Aitken for feeling comfortable testing new combinations after a 39-goal win.
Aitken said part of her job was to grow the team of 12 and ensure she had experience to call on when she needed it.
"Always in netball we've looked at developing flexibility and developing the whole team, so the challenge is always how you get people out on court to learn things about them and give them experiences they can learn from, whilst still maintaining the winning."
She said the loss of captain Julie Seymour and experienced defender Leana de Bruin from next week's two-test series proved how important it was to develop bench players.
"When you look at when we lost Julie it just goes to show how quickly things can change and if you've not given any experience to those in the next tier then it can be a major problem."
And Aitken has found an unlikely ally in her bid to blood young players and test new combinations in Australian coach Norma Plummer.
Plummer, who chopped and changed her own lineup in Australia's two test wins against England, even after her side only won the first test by three goals, believes bench players must be given the opportunity to show what they are capable of.
"It's a sort of case of when do you test the water? [Australia and New Zealand] are playing one another half the time and you're not getting opportunities against lesser teams to try things out. I believe in coaching 12 and you've got to give players the opportunity because it's not about winning this one, it's about whether you win the World Championship," said Plummer.
Aitken's real mistake in the second test was not in giving her bench players a run, but the make-up of her shooting end.
The "twin towers" combination of Irene van Dyk at goal attack and Daneka Wipiiti at goal shoot is a nice theory, but the reality of having two holding shooters created a muddle in the attack end.
Aitken knows the media will be watching carefully who she plays against Australia. Let's just hope she hasn't lost the nerve to try something new, because it is for the good of the future of New Zealand netball.
