If the Silver Ferns' recent record against Australia wasn't enough, midcourter Kayla Cullen received a last minute jolt of motivation before she took the court against the Diamonds last night.
As the two sides were warming up ahead of their crucial pool play match on day three of the NetballWorld Cup, the court side announcer asked former Australian international Catherine Cox and Silver Ferns legend Temepara Bailey to run through the line-ups.
Cullen did not like Cox's assessment.
The athletic midcourter believed Cox was dismissive of the New Zealand players, which spurred her on even more to produce a big performance in the Ferns 52-47 win over the Diamonds.
"I think what really got me firing was when [Catherine Cox] was announcing the players on the court and she said all this great stuff about Kim Green and then she got to me and was like 'oh Kayla Cullen at wing defence, they haven't really got this position sorted' and I was like 'what?'," said Cullen.
Cullen questioned the appropriateness of commentators giving their opinion on the team line-up over the stadium PA system while the players are warming up.
"I thought 'why are they doing this right now? That's not fair'. Especially when they say 'oh they're trying out line-ups and they haven't got this area of the court sorted'. We're just standing there thinking, 'excuse me?'"
Cullen, who is playing in her first World Cup, was one of several stand-outs in the New Zealand effort, making a menace of herself on defence to disrupt the speed and flow of the Australian midcourt.
While yesterday's win was a huge confidence boost for the team and confirmation they have a gameplan that stacks up against the Australians, Cullen said they are conscious they still have a long way to go in the tournament.
"We don't want to get cocky or anything - it was only a pool game so we can't get too ahead of ourselves. We know we have to keep building and improving."
