Hi all, I was VERY privileged to be at the NZ selection vs Swifts game – given that it wasn’t televised and essentially was Swifts members and VIPs only. The journos were only Britt Carter (ABC), the Swifts liaison, and me, yay!
Netball Central aka Quayside is the un-airconditioned regular court training venue for both Giants and Swifts, and also the venue for state league etc etc, at Olympic Park, where we’ll probably see the second court in the NWC 2027 (as it was in 2015). It was a fairly warm day, possibly warmer than anything the Kiwis expect.
Swifts put on quite a lot of effort for the fans, in terms of merch stalls, lots of NSW junior age reps etc, and a not-too-shabby-not-too-annoying DJ.
There were no offical stats, and I couldn’t tell who all the younger/new Silver Ferns defenders were. It was a 4-quarter game (as opposed to 5), the third day in a row for these two teams – even though some of them know each other very well, there wasn’t much chatting between teams, I got the impression the Kiwis were just a touch tired after a week-long camp, and possibly very ready to go home. That’s not to say they didn’t play well, just something I noticed.
There were MANY changes, including during a quarter, even switching people on and off within 3-4 minutes. This was particularly for the NZ WA position in the first half, and for their defence end in the second half. Both teams actually need to make some decisions about midcourt combos, although NZ didn’t have Souness or MRB.