› Forums › International › Who have you changed your opinion about?
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Happy New Year to all! I thank everybody for their contributes to one of my favourite places.
Which player coach umpire or other personality have you changed your mind about?
It could be from a negative to positive, or reverse.
I will go first. I have been watching some old matches from around 1997-2000 and realised something. In the World Champs final 1999 both Wilson and Loffhagen (Wilkins) totally choked (both playing GS most of the time in those years), and I didn’t respect them for their lack of accuracy in the biggest match. However I have now had a chance to appreciate how truly great they were. I think in particular Wilkins was an absolute killer – the way she changed her game when IvD came along was impressive, and I don’t really mind that she was a bit of a diva at times!
Interesting idea.
I am going to go from positive to (somewhat) negative: Roselee Jencke.
One of my fave players on the court; her intercept in the dying moments of the 1991 World Cup was amazing. I really enjoyed talking to her about it at an ANL Final here in Melbourne a while ago.
But now, not coaching Jenner and Hinchliffe out of waving their hands in front of goalers’ faces whilst they’re shooting is disappointing (I am not going to say she’s coaching them to do it). And letting them play with their consistent thuggishness, particularly Jenner. I’ll put Tippett in that category too, tho’ she seems to have grown/coached out of it. Maybe with Jenner becoming a Diamond, she’ll be coached out of it too.
And not putting Jemma Mi Mi on the court in the Indigenous round game. Cringeworthy; ditto her – Jencke’s – explanation afterwards.
For me it is Ekenasio (Wells)
When she 1st came to NZ and was rushed into the Ferns, and has basically bench sat for 3 years at the Firebirds.
I really thought it was a strange decision, didn’t see anything that said wow amazing.
She then faded away from the Ferns, got back into the Ferns had some nice moments, then got pregnant. Had a awful 2018 Com Games (most of the Ferns did). Bench sat at the Pulse for 2018. Got dropped again after a shocker against England.Meels then went away and did some super hard work, her performance at the 2019 WC was without doubt the best of any player there.
For a bench sitting Firebird, to now a world champion Silver Fern and captain is a very special feat.
I’d say Taurua. She obviously had a lot of success with the Magic but with the lineup she had it almost felt like they underachieved. She’d always been a bit alternative and I remember some people were a bit bemused when she got the Steel job. But since then she has absolutely shown her class and shone to objectively prove herself to be the best coach in Netball. Definitely changed my opinion.
Tippett is a player that I never thought would be more than athletic and has become quite an astonishing player. Similarly, I never thought Ekenasio would be more than a good shooter and she’s transformed herself into one of the best attacking players of her generation. I am still in awe of the way she shot at the end of the SF and F of NWC last year. Completely clutched NZL the title. Three years ago I wouldn’t have had either of these close to their national teams, now you couldn’t really exclude them.
Gina Crampton.
I once believed she was a player that could only feed a tall shooter like Fowler, and that seemed to be the case when she first sprung onto the international scene and continued through 2017-2018. But like Ekenasio, she clearly went away and did a lot of work and is now so much fitter and more agile.
Crampton played 60 minutes in the World Cup Final and had just ONE turnover. That’s unheard of for a WA in a pressure cooker match. Her decision making is always sublime and she has really proved she can feed any shooter. She has been a major part of the Ferns resurrection.
mcleod… Wells (Ekenasio) always had ability. It was just that her game clearly didn’t suit the way Jencke wanted to play with Aiken there. You look at Ekenasio now and you say “Amy Wild was preferred to her?”
Yes that’s true Ian, she played well with Mes, and the Falou/Ekenasio combo was excellent.
Well it was when Maria played at GS. 2 moving GS’s not a stand by the post GS.Yes, I don’t think she would have been quite as effective with van Dyk for example or Latu.
Agree, I think the Maia Wilson/Ekenasio combo will be good, might take a year or so.
Taurua wants Wilson to be a moving GS, plenty of time for that to get better.I like this thread 👍 I have a few 😂
1) Katrina Rore (negative to positive)
Whenever the Ferns team was named, I always thought Katrina didn’t need to be there. My choices were always Kopua LDB Harrison and generally I would have liked Cullen/Scanlan or Henry. However in 2019 she showed so much character, fight and determination to work her way back into the team. And then to learn a new position, WD, and really make it her own – which scored her a WC and SSN cup – was amazing. She has become a real favourite of mine now!2) Robyn Broughton (positive-negative-positive)
Thought she was an amazing coach in the NBC. She was clever to bring in Donna Loffhagen, and keep her. I felt Loffhagen was one of the hardest players to shut down in the NBC. Teams figured out early how to shut IVD down, but there was no-one in NZ who could really shut Loffhagen down.
Broughton was a bit ahead of her time, as she always spoke about possession. The Sting rarely gave up possession, they were generally very safe. That’s one thing you see clearly the Ferns didn’t do from 1992 through til IVD made her appearance. Their turnover rate was ridiculous.
The ANZC exposed Broughtons weakness as a coach. It looked like she didn’t have much to offer in the team huddles. I remember Liz Ellis calling her out on it, in commentary.
However looking at the game now, possession is still a big thing in netball. So I’ve come to appreciate Broughtons “possession game”.3) Ruth Aitken (positive-negative-positive)
This is a hard one, as I really liked her as the Ferns coach. However her team selection for the 2007 WC, but more importantly, the positions she played them in, was NEVER going to win them the cup. If Plummer didn’t make all those weird changes in the final, the Diamonds would have easily beaten us by 10+ goals. Her refusal of taking Harrison and Temepara George back, I think really worked against her.
The 2010 CWG will always stand as one of the best games in netball (I guess it would be if you’re a kiwi 😁). She out-coached Plummer in that game!There are a few more, but these are probably my top atm.
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› Forums › International › Who have you changed your opinion about?