The Silver Ferns won’t have forgotten the sight of Jamaica jumping around and dancing with delight at last year’s Commonwealth Games.
Jamaica had every reason to celebrate, blowing the Silver Ferns off the court in a dominant 67-51 semifinal win in Birmingham.
Those images will be fresh in the minds of coach Dame Noeline Taurua and the players ahead of a juicy rematch in the second stage of the Netball World Cup next week.
After getting through the first preliminary stage, the tournament now effectively starts for the defending champion Ferns.
This is when the World Cup officially heats up with a significant amount riding on the games.
New Zealand is set to face Pool C sides, Jamaica, hosts South Africa, and the third placed team (likely Wales) in the second phase of the tournament, starting on Monday night (NZ time). When the Ferns play each side will depend on their finishing order in preliminaries stage one.
They will be joined by the other two qualifiers from the Ferns’ initial pool – likely Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago.
Sides carry forward the results from the games they played against teams in their first stage pool.
The games against Jamaica and South Africa carry plenty of weight with a Ferns’ loss to either opponent potentially setting up a semifinal against Australia – should the Diamonds top Group F.
Australia and England should be the pacesetters from Group F and red-hot favourites to advance to the semifinals.
To say the Ferns will be on high alert for Jamaica is an understatement.
Adding to the storyline is the farcical two-match home series against Jamaica in September last year, which was beset by problems from the beginning.
Passport and visa issues delayed Jamaica’s departure and led to the first two tests in Hamilton being scrapped. One game was moved to Auckland with both matches played in the city at different venues.
When Jamaica eventually touched down, just seven of their original 12-player squad made it with the others unable to travel with visa problems.
To field the mandatory 10 players for a recognised test match, Jamaica were forced to add coach Connie Francis, in her 50s, to the team sheet. They also sent out an SOS to Australia for retired 38-year-old Carla Borrego, and Romelda Aiken-George, who had given birth six weeks earlier. Those three players didn’t end up taking the court with Jamaica sticking with seven players.
Netball NZ estimated they lost around $400,000 from the shambolic series, but hoped some of those costs could be mitigated with their venue and accomodation partners.
NNZ received a $10,000 ex gratia payment and letter from World Netball in April – a fraction of the shortfall from the series. World Netball fined Jamaica the maximum £5000 (about NZ$10,000) for failing to fulfil the fixtures.
Led by veteran shooter Jhaniele Fowler, who starred for the Southern Steel from 2013-17, and outstanding defender Shamera Sterling, arguably the leading goal keep in world netball, Jamaica present a formidable test.
The Sunshine Girls also have inside knowledge of the Silver Ferns with Northern Mystics assistant coach Rob Wright again serving as their specialist defence coach.
Wright is familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Ferns’ players from the ANZ Premiership. He will be able to provide key intel on star Ferns’ shooter Grace Nweke, who plays for the title-winning Mystics.
After the Commonwealth Games thumping, the Ferns will need to have a smarter game plan and do a better job of executing – especially on defence.
It was too easy for Jamaica, who were quickly able to fire the ball into the 1.98m Fowler, who torched them for 54 goals from 54 attempts. Generating more pressure on the Jamaican feeders and disrupting them in the midcourt will be crucial.
Jamaica won’t be the only worry for the Ferns.
Coached by the canny Norma Plummer, South Africa command respect at home, spurred on by their parochial fans.
It’s unlikely to be as comfortable this time around.
