UPDATED: 8:05am – Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby’s approach to netball can be summed up in 10 words.
“What we do well today, we can do better tomorrow.”
It’s a mantra she’s keeping well to the fore ahead of Sunday’s second Test against England in Napier, particularly given the close results the last two times the teams have met.
While New Zealand won the first Test in the three-match Taini Jamison Trophy series on Thursday, England came up trumps in taking out their Quad Series clash in Auckland the week before.
The 49-45 win was only the fifth time in 88 Tests that England have beaten the Silver Ferns, and the loss clearly rankled the New Zealanders.
They responded with a 62-55 win in Wellington three days ago, a last-quarter surge taking out a game in which both teams struggled to stamp any real authority. While she was pleased enough to record a win, Southby was nowhere near satisfied with her team’s performance.
“We were disappointed in a few aspects of our game the other night – we felt we lacked urgency, and that was on attack and defence,” she said.
“It’s about not dwelling on your errors and getting too future-focused, but actually staying right in the moment and playing what you see.”
Southby is still working to build depth and combinations in her squad, with next year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the 2019 World Cup the major focuses.
The team is very much a work in progress, lacking consistency and still building links.
“There’s still a lot more to go in this group of girls, and a lot more that needs to happen for us to get to where we need to,” she said.
“They’re a new group and they haven’t built that level of trust you need to know to go into battle with each other.”
-NewstalkZB
