Netball: Silver Ferns' defence outfoxes Aussies

Silver Ferns Maria Tutaia and Adine Wilson breathe more easily after their win in the second netball test over Australia. Picture / Dean Purcell

How to decipher the Silver Ferns' defence will be a talking point in the Australian camp leading up to tonight's test series decider in Christchurch.

The Australians - who won the opener in Wellington on Thursday - struggled to infiltrate the Silver Ferns' defence in the second test, which allowed the New Zealanders to take the match and tie the series.

The Silver Ferns relied on one-on-one defence in the first half but reverted back to their trademark zone in the second half. That brought the Australians to a standstill and allowed the Silver Ferns to swoop on intercepts.

Australian assistant coach Jane Searle said her side were guilty of playing into the Silver Ferns' hands.

"Their trademark is the zone, but they certainly came out and played strong, tight defence," Searle said.

"We need to adjust to that.

"We didn't do it as well as we would have liked. We were hesitant and put up too much high ball into the circle and went away from our game plan a little bit," Searle said.

The Australians were punished for their inaccuracy under the hoop. They put up two more shots but slotted only 37 of their 53 attempts, compared to New Zealand's 43 from 51.

Australia's Susan Pratley, 22, who replaced Catherine Cox at goal attack in the second quarter, had a shaky performance, shooting 63 per cent.

"I was disappointed in my game," Pratley said. "Our movement was very stationary, so they read that really well and intercepted some great balls."

This series is the last time the two sides will play before next year's world championship, and the Australians were keen to see whether their combinations could match the world champions.

Now it has been established they can, captain Liz Ellis said they have reset their goals and they are now seeking a series win.

"We are confident we can do it but we have a massive task ahead of us," Ellis said.

"I thought it [the second test] was a massive step up in intensity from the first test. I thought both teams fought really hard."

The veteran Australian goal keep believes the Silver Ferns' new-look shooting lineup of Maria Tutaia and Irene van Dyk is improving in each game.

"It is just another thing for us to think about and that we need to analyse and see if we can find any weaknesses and how they can be exploited.

"It is certainly a great challenge playing against someone who is as great a player as Irene. She is the reason I get out of bed every morning to train; she is a fine athlete."

For the Silver Ferns the key will again be slowing the Australians down and giving their rivals the slip on attack.

Shooter van Dyk helped her side on attack in the second test, which proved useful and is a tactic the Silver Ferns will probably look to use again.

While a win has brought the Silver Ferns some reprieve, captain Adine Wilson said there would be no let-up from her side. "Sometimes when you come off a win you might not do the analysis as much as [with] a loss.

"We will make sure we look at every single pass off and every single one of those passes into that circle and make sure we nail it."

New Zealand v Australia

* First test: Australia 51 New Zealand 47

* Second test: New Zealand 43 Australia 37

* Third test: Christchurch 7.45 tonight