Netball reporter Nathan Limm takes a look at the Silver Ferns’ hottest competition at the upcoming Netball World Cup.
It would be naive to suggest anyone other than the Diamonds are title favourites. After snatching the Constellation Cup title back off the Silver Ferns on goal percentage late last year, they stormed through January’s Quad Series in South Africa unbeaten. While neither New Zealand nor Australia were at full strength simultaneously during the transtasman series, both were close to that during the tournament in Cape Town, with the Diamonds pipping the Ferns by two and six goals respectively.
However, Australia have endured a turbulent build-up to the World Cup and it is yet to be seen how the pay dispute drama will affect them. Netball Australia effectively held the Diamonds to ransom last month when they refused to name the World Cup squad until the collective bargaining agreement with the Australian Netball Players’ Association was signed, causing “confusion, sadness and anger” among the players. A temporary truce has been signed to extend the current agreement until after the tournament, meaning the players could finally be notified of their selection. While there’s a slight element of satisfaction to seeing the Ferns’ arch-rivals squabble among themselves from this side of the Tasman, it remains to be seen whether the debacle will disrupt or unify the playing group.
Australia’s squad includes 11 of the 12 players who won gold at the Commonwealth Games, boasting a range of experience, depth and versatility. The Diamonds’ defensive end showed in the Quad Series their willingness to be aggressive, highlighted by Courtney Bruce’s WWE-like takedown of Grace Nweke. At 1.90 metres, Sarah Klau is the tallest of the Australian defenders, still three centimetres shorter than Nweke. The likes of Bruce, Klau and Jo Weston will no doubt try to rattle the 21-year-old, whose dominant ANZ Premiership form will have her as one of the most studied players in the world.
A possible disadvantage is their domestic Super Netball competition only finished over the weekend. This will make their World Cup preparation far more rushed when compared to the seven-week gap enjoyed by Dame Noeline Taurua and the Silver Ferns.
Australia squad: Sunday Aryang, Kiera Austin, Ash Brazill, Courtney Bruce, Sophie Garbin, Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau, Cara Koenen, Jamie-Lee Price, Liz Watson, Joanna Weston, Steph Wood.
The Roses are on the opposite side of the draw to the Silver Ferns and will likely meet the Diamonds in the second round of pool play. Assuming New Zealand and Australia qualify top of either half of the draw, with Jamaica and England runners-up, it’s likely the Silver Ferns will meet the Roses in the semifinals.
England have had their fair share of struggles in the last year. The Roses have won only four of their last 10 internationals, with three of those wins coming against Uganda. They went through the round robin stage of January’s Quad Series winless, only managing a 46-46 draw with South Africa before beating them by six goals in the bronze medal match. England copped a 10-goal walloping by New Zealand and looked a far cry from the side that stormed to a 2-1 Taini Jamison series victory over the Silver Ferns in Aotearoa back in 2021.
Having said that, it’s worth pointing out the Silver Ferns were a mess just a year out from the 2019 World Cup victory. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, New Zealand fell to a 60-55 defeat by Jamaica to miss out on the podium, leading to the exit of coach Janine Southby. In came Taurua, who transformed the side into World Cup champions in just 12 months. Who’s to say England can’t do the same?
England squad: Imogen Alison, Eleanor Cardwell, Jade Clarke, Funmi Fadoju, Layla Guscoth, Helen Housby, Laura Malcolm, Geva Mentor, Natalie Metcalf, Chelsea Pitman, Olivia Tchine, Fran Williams.
Jamaica is a side to get nervous about. Last year’s farcical New Zealand tour aside, the Sunshine Girls boast plenty of quality. In round one of Australia’s Super Netball domestic tournament, all four MVPs were Jamaican test players. Ace shooter Jhaniele Fowler and circle defenders Latanya Wilson and Shamera Stirling have all been named in the competition’s team of the year (that’s three of the seven available spots). Ten of their squad featured at the 2019 World Cup, giving them a bedrock of experience. Jamaica also claimed silver at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after crushing an under-strength Silver Ferns outfit by 16 goals in the semifinals.
The major challenge for coaches Connie Francis and Rob Wright, who is also the Northern Mystics assistant coach, will be connecting their dynamic attacking and defensive ends with a midcourt based mostly in the Jamaican domestic competition. The best Sunshine Girls play in Australia, where the rules differ - such as the two-point goal arc - therefore making their unification at test level slightly more difficult. However, Jamaica’s expert coaches and vast player experience should balance this out.
Jamaica squad: Romelda Aiken-George, Shanice Beckford, Jhaniele Fowler, Shimona Nelson, Rebekah Robinson, Nicole Dixon-Rochester, Crystal Plummer, Abigale Sutherland, Adean Thomas, Khadijah Williams, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Kimone Shaw, Shamera Sterling, Jodi-Ann Ward, Latanya Wilson.
The tournament hosts represent an intriguing piece to the puzzle that is the World Cup playoff selection picture. To put it simply, they are bolters. Beyond New Zealand, Australia, England and Jamaica, there is a noticeable drop in test quality. However, this puts South Africa in the unique position of having everything going for them, with next to no expectations of delivering a podium finish. They reside in pool C alongside Jamaica, Wales and Sri Lanka, and will need to knock off either the Silver Ferns or the Sunshine Girls to have a shot at the semifinals.
Before you write them off, think of Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Riding a wave of emotional home support, the Brave Blossoms picked off Ireland and Scotland in pool play, reaching the quarter-finals for the very first time and winning the hearts of the rugby world.
South Africa squad: Bongiwe Msomi, Karla Pretorius, Khanyisa Chawane, Izette Griesel, Owethu Ngubane, Refiloe Nketsa, Phumza Maweni, Lenize Potgieter, Lefebre Rademan, Nicola Smith, Jeante Strydom, Nichole Taljaard, Elmere van der Berg, Shadine van der Merwe, Ine-Mari Venter.
Kate Heffernan wants the Silver Ferns eligibility rules to change.