Netball: Transtasman battleground tests players' mettle

The next 17 weeks of ANZ Championship action will provide the battleground for Silver Ferns selection as the country's elite players look to seal their place at the two pinnacle events looming fast on the horizon.

The emergence of a couple of young stars late last year and the return of three new mums have provided an intriguing backdrop to the race for spots in this year's Commonwealth Games team.

With the immediate focus on transtasman netball's showpiece, which gets under way tomorrow, the country's best will use the competition as a springboard towards Silver Ferns selection. The 12-strong test side selected for internationals against Jamaica and Australia this year will likely be the same 12 that board the plane for Delhi in October.

And given there's just eight months separating the Commonwealth Games and next year's World Champs, and no time for rebuilding between campaigns, the bulk of this group will also chase the world title in Singapore in 2011.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken said the time for players to put their hand up for selection is now: "We are looking at our selections being as consistent as possible from Commonwealth Games through to World Champs."

Aitken said she is keeping an open mind and approaching the new transtasman season with a clean slate.

A more even scattering of national players around the country will provide a better context for tracking her top players over the course of the season.

Last year, the bulk of New Zealand's playing talent was concentrated in two franchises - the Magic and the Steel. But a flurry of player movement in the off-season has seen the talent base spread more evenly around the five franchises. It is a development Aitken is pleased with as it means her top players will face stiff competition every week.

And what will the New Zealand selectors be looking for this year?

"These last few months we've had a really strong conditioning push with all the players. So I would really like to see them express that fitness out on court."

Three returning mothers are pushing for a place on the Games team.

The Steel's Daneka Wipiiti and Leana de Bruin are both back on court after giving birth late last year. De Bruin, who played for the Magic last season, has barely missed a beat in her comeback to top-level netball. But lofty shooter Wipiiti is still finding her feet.

Magic recruit Jodi Brown, who has not played for the Ferns since the 2007 World Championships, is understood to be keen to return to international netball this season after having a baby in 2008.