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in reply to: Silver Ferns WC squad predictions #1359729
It’s an interesting proposition to take only 3 shooters, given the 3 reserves. I suppose that’s why Thirlby has chosen only 3 for the Roses. I don’t think DNT would do that though because of workload on the shooters – fatigue does build up over the course of a tournament, as with any position, but for a shooter, it may affect shooting accuracy at the crunch end, with often a couple of goals deciding who wins. Secondly, i think it also affects confidence levels of the reserve shooter, if they were to be required. Obviously, this is crucial for performance in high pressure situations. I think it will the same 4 shooters from CWG who will go, with Metuarau as reserve, only because the other four can all play GS.
As much as i like MSB’s current form, she hasn’t been tested against international opposition recently, so i get a sense DNT wouldn’t pick someone that hasn’t had recent test match experience. Similarly, as much as Gordon covers multiple positions in ANZ, she hasn’t really shone against international opposition. So yes, she can play there, but would she win the battle against the likes of Liz Watson, Price or Latanya Wilson?
So this brings me to these questions… Which midcourt player would you guys play against Liz Watson in WA, Liz Watson in C, Latanya Wilson in WD (or someone equally agile with long reach, may be Guscoth?)? If you choose Burger or Heffernan for WD, who would cover GD or C, respectively?
in reply to: Silver Ferns WC squad predictions #1359160Agree Karaka can be disruptive in WD. I would try her against the likes of England or Jamaica, to try and get the arms over the WAs and disrupt the delivery in to the likes of Fowler or Cardwell. But I don’t think she could match up well enough on Watson for a full 60mins.
For Australia, my starting 7 would be Nweke, Ekenasio, Crampton, Souness, Heffernan, Burger, Watson. If required, Toeava as impact player in WA as direct swap for Crampton, and Jury as impact player in GK, then moving up Watson or bringing on Karaka at GD, Burger sliding to WD and Heffernan in to C and Souness coming off.
in reply to: Silver Ferns WC squad predictions #1359137Interesting to read that many would include MSB as reserve – I’ve forgotten how good she has been this season!
I think the ferns are good enough to win over England and SA based on their recent form, but i think the team has to be selected especially to counter Australia and Jamaica.
For Jamaica, i think Nweke should start but if Sterling is having a field day with a holding shooter, swapping to a mobile circle with Mes and Eke could be a good plan B. So for that reason, Mes gets the edge over TPSR. TP’s relaxed passing will get deflected by the reach of Sterling, Ward, Dehaney, Latanya Wilson any day.
For Australia, the main problem is who will cover Wood and Liz Watson. I think Burger is the only GD that is fast enough to cover Wood, with Karaka and Jane Watson (not yet back to peak-peak form imho) being just a step too slow. The question is then do you play Heffernan in WD or keep her at centre and take a strong WD option? I think Crampton and Toeava are both likely to go, so whether Souness or Gordon gets the 4th midcourt spot, will depend on where Noeline wants to play Heffernan – Souness, if Heffernan is used to counter Watson, or Gordon to match up on Watson’s speed, if Heffernan stays in centre.
Where do you guys think Heffernan and Burger should be played against Australia?
in reply to: 2023 ANZP ROUND 8 #1357845Looks like not much interest in this first game of the day between Tactix and Steel!
Result was 50-31 to the Tactix. I must admit I didn’t watch most of this game… Haha
in reply to: 2023 ANZP ROUND 7 #1357452Half time scores are 26-23 to the Magic!
in reply to: 2023 QUAD SERIES (Jan) – SA/Aus/NZ/Eng #1354052Yet again, some bizarre umpire calls from Burgess and Kemp. Unlikely to have affected the final outcome but bad calls affect the momentum of the game and also player performance, albeit momentarily. The umpires need to be paid so that they can develop their umpiring.
Ferns were disappointing in the second half. Nweke looked tired in the third quarter – she played every minute of all 4 games right? Also after taking all those hits from Klau and Bruce all game, it’s understandable. Ekenasio was a bit flat this game, though she got in to it in the 4th quarter. Heffernan looked tired too. Karaka and Watson didn’t look their best today, in terms of speed, footwork and timing. They need more time together to gel after their maternity leave at different times. Also, Jury tends to put Wood off her shot, so would have our get there in place of Watson. Burger was good in patches but think her and Watson need to get their match fitness back. Crampton was about the only one who was fairly consistent. The changes needed to come earlier in the third quarter with the option of bringing some of these players back.
Klau and Bruce looked to be ineffective but they really ground the ferns attackers down. Brazill not yet at her best after her recent gastro bout. Hadley didn’t do much wrong but also was unnoticeable, would have tried Moloney or Price in her place. Koenan and Wood were at their best.
in reply to: 2023 QUAD SERIES (Jan) – SA/Aus/NZ/Eng #1353891I loved the ferns starting 7 for this game. I think it is my preferred team out of the ones we have seen recently. May be the only change i might suggest is having Karaka at GD and Watson at GK, with Jury coming on as an impact player. I also was keen to see attk end of Nweke/Eke/Toeava/Souness – Wilson’s timing wasn’t quite there with the middies and i think there wasn’t enough space for them to run amok this time.
I was keen to see Watson at GK. But she has the entire ANZ to play there with Burger at GD so I’m guessing DNT wanted to run her at GD instead with Jury as that combo needs time to gel. Jury needs to stay put in GK. Sulu was better this time than during CC or CWG, but wasn’t dominant enough to push any of the incumbents out, bar injury.
Nweke and Eke were brilliant. Wilson still needs more time to develop at GA – she’s not yet at the standard to play against Australia there. She got stuck out wide and was a bit static, which would be ok if her timing with Toeava/Nweke was good but it wasn’t.
Crampton reliable as always and Toeava played pretty well, though not as influential in this game, but that’s credit to Brazill and Bruce. She still managed to put in some quick passes that beat Klau but you could see that Klau started to learn how to move her feet to counter those long feeds. Heffernan was fantastic at centre. She is cementing herself as the starting C for me, over Souness, who ran around everywhere without really being helpful. Kersten didn’t have much influence in WD, might need a run at C to see if there’s reason for her inclusion.
Kersten is a swap for Saunders – safe and steady. Although she is more a defensive C, having Toeava gives DNT her third WA option. Kirsten is the third C option behind Souness and Heffernan. If Toeava doesn’t impress in this series, DNT needs to know who to take instead. My guess is that DNT wasn’t sold on Poi or Gordon in the CC, so is looking at another back up in Kersten.
Very excited about the defensive options. Sulu has had a quiet year, but remember that she won the Dame Lois Muir player of the year in 2021. She can make a comeback, but i don’t know which of the other 4 defenders she would replace. It will just come down to form in the ANZ closer to the world champs. Sometimes players can have a meltdown, or good forbid, become injured, so i think it’s a good idea to have lots of options.
Can’t see the shooters change unless any of the 4 have a shocking ANZ.
In terms of the world cup squad, i think the attack and defence ends have been pretty much confirmed, bar injury, pregnancy or extraordinary change in form over the upcoming anz. For the midcourt, Crampton, Heffernan are a lock, and Souness is almost the same, but I’d say not quite a lock as I think she is still new to C and she didn’t quite show consistency over cwg and constellation cup. But she still showed moments of brilliance and with her ability to cover WA, she should get in the team.
The question is whether you take Toeava for extra WA cover, or Johnson for extra WD/GD cover. I think the ferns struggle more in attack than in defence and Crampton can go a bit missing, particularly with the hard 1-on-1 style of the Aussies. Toeava edges ahead in getting the 4th spot, for me. But i was really impressed by Johnson’s ability to spoil the opposition’s attacking flow, and her ability to quickly transition to attack, and get the ball up the court before the opposition defence could set up, was valuable. She is too similar to Burger though, so i think she is less likely to make it over Toeava. The bolter would be Gordon, and even less likely, MRB.
So for this quad series, i would pick:
Nweke, Ekenasio, Wilson, TPSR
Crampton, Toeava, Souness, Heffernan
Jury, Karaka, Johnson. Then Burger or Watson but not bothI would then start:
GS Nweke
GA Ekenasio
WA Toeava
C Souness
WD Johnson
GD Burger (or Karaka if Burger absent)
GK Jury (or Watson if selected)I wanna see how Johnson plays with Burger out in GD.
in reply to: 2022 Commonwealth Games – Day 7 (Aug 4) #1348928You have to remember that this tournament is a marathon not a sprint – i mean this in the sense that careful pacing is required. If you empty the tank in pool play, you can’t give 100% in the knock out stages when every single game is truly a must-win. People keep saying you should always aim to win every game, as if the ferns and DNT didn’t try. They bloody tried but they had a game plan and a limit on what they were willing to give within the context of a pool stage match – may be that’s how many minutes each players were put out on court or a limit to a certain strategy of play. That’s because humans have a finite amount of physical and mental capacity they can expend over a 9-10 day tournament, so yes, you do need to sometimes rest your best player if you think they will become exhausted because muscle takes time to recover. In the knock out stages, your priorities do change, so yes, you keep pushing them harder because conserving energy for the next game is a lesser priority. And that’s why the fitness standards are important…
in reply to: 2022 Cadbury Series #1347200Souness is really showing great form. Has she played WA at all? Wouldn’t mind seeing her with Saunders at C. Also Georgia Heffernan played pretty well today in WD. Just needs to let the ball go quicker when she plays C.
Defensively, it’s always hard to judge when they play against the men. Not a lot of turnover ball given the height mismatch, but I just hope it was a good workout for them. Sulu played better in GD today. Still would like to see Johnson in GD for a quarter.
Shooting wasn’t great today but more combinations were able to be tried. i think TPSR is better in GS than GA – less chance of her turning over the ball haha. Maia was great in GA. Mes had a quiet game this time.
I think the game tomorrow against the mixed team will be really competitive. Can’t wait!
Wild guess here, but I think she wants to try learning WD to increase her Diamonds chances and fill that WD/GD role left by Francis-Bayman. I think it’s a shame since having Bec Bulley as coach might have helped her defensive game develop further. But also can understand her wanting to leave the Firebirds as I think her game has stagnated a bit and has been superceded by RBD. I think she has nothing to lose as she is bench warming anyway at the Firebirds
in reply to: 2022 Cadbury Series #1347091I’m similarly worried about our defence end. Jury formed a great partnership with Manua and Gordon. She just didn’t have as much impact today with the combinations we saw today. Heffernan and Johnson are great athletes but based on today’s game, they won’t be able to match the likes of Liz Watson, Paige Hadley or Haythornthwaite. GD is also a concern because Johnson isn’t fit enough yet, Karaka doesn’t look like her previous self ever since she got covid and Sulu is not quite fast enough to match someone like Housby or Wood.
Midcourt of Souness and Crampton was a delight to watch. The ex-Steel front line of TPSR, Crampton and Saunders, with Nweke instead of Fowler, didn’t quite gel, but may be that was more Nweke not being settled, rather than the other three. Would like to see it given one more go.
Nweke was so good once she got in to the groove in the third quarter. I think if she can muscle up to Bruce, Mentor and Sterling, it will help save our midcourters legs immensely. I think Maia did pretty well in GA and Mes also in the fourth quarter in GS. TPSR was good but just needs to watch those casual passes, that lead to a couple of turn overs.
For NZA: Ekenasio was on fire! I wish she was in the team! I guess it will be Mes and TPSR (and also Dunn?) battling it out for that 4th shooting spot next year. Pleasantly surprised by Toeava, but might have been also due to the ferns’ poor WD stocks. Temu, Manua and Burley had a rather forgettable game.
in reply to: Private Equity bid for SSN #1346927I guess it means the private equity firm can do what ever it wants. Liz Ellis is part of the bid now but if (or when) she resigns from the role, they could do what ever they want. More imports, a shot timer like in basketball, stopping the time when ever the ball is out of play, increasing ticket prices, may be even a 3 point shot like fast5.
NA would have a say in these decisions but it would be sad if NA lost control of its own domestic league. But ideologies aside, if they go bust, then it would be a big step back for the professionalism in netball. The players would have to work a second job and train when they can.
in reply to: NZ Comm Games Team #1346683If Grace fails her medical clearance or fitness test, I hope Ekenasio will be ready. Sounds like her combo with Hume was effective. And if not, I want to see how she goes with Tiana again in the NZA like the old pulse days, although i can’t really remember these 2 being on court much, without Dunn there…..
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