NZ, Australia expected to dominate

Peter Rees
Even before the World Netball Champs get underway in Auckland on November 10, the four yearly tournament is predicted to be a two-horse race between reigning titleholders and hosts New Zealand, and eight time winners Australia. But that hasn’t stopped the three Pacific islands teams from fancying their chances.

Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands are all eyeing top four finishes and believe they can achieve that, even if Jamaica, England and South Africa will likely be blocking their paths. The three islands nations have been starved of regular top level competition since the last World Champs in Jamaica in 2003. In comparison, New Zealand, Australia and to a lesser extent Jamaica and England have enjoyed the luxury of having busy domestic and international schedules year round.

But since 2003, the islands nations have regrouped, recruiting former New Zealand Silver Fern representatives as coaches; Vilimaina Davu (Fiji), Linda Vagana (Samoa) and Ana No’ovao (Cook Islands).

With their New Zealand connections and inside knowledge, they have helped prepare their teams for this year’s World Champs.

Samoa has made the biggest strides since being placed sixth at the 2003 World Champs, their highest placed finish since their World Champs debut in 1991.

Vagana, the Samoan captain in 2003, retired not long after and took up the coaching reins when Rita Fatialofa-Patolo, another former Silver Fern, stepped down. Her impact was almost immediate. She led Samoa to fifth place at last year’s Commonwealth Games and a lop sided victory against the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea at the 2007 World Champs Oceania qualifiers in Suva. 

But Samoa has enjoyed the benefits of being able to draw from a wider pool of players although over 80% of their best are based in New Zealand playing at provincial and National Bank Cup level.

Samoa’s dependence on New Zealand based talent however has meant stagnant development back home in Samoa. This was no more evident than at this year’s South Pacific Games when Fiji comprehensively marched past all comers to win the gold medal, beating a Samoan team devoid of most of their frontline players from New Zealand (due to games eligibility restrictions) in the final in emphatic fashion.

Samoa has a tough task of playing Australia in their opening match but will benefit from the experience of several former Silver Ferns in Lorna Suafoa and Ana Senio, who switched allegiance to their mother countries after falling out of favour for New Zealand selection. Samoa has prepared for the World Champs for the past year holding regular team camps in Auckland and Apia since late last year.

Fiji, on the other hand, has focused its efforts inwards, developing their local talent and with the addition of Davu as coach in the past year, the Fijians have added another bow in their string.

They would be disappointed with their efforts at the Melbourne Games last year.

But winning  gold at the South Pacific Games and getting the better of Samoa, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea in the process will give them a lot of confidence heading into Auckland in November.

With talented individuals such as towering shooter Taraima Rara, they could surprise on their march to their best ever World Champs placing of sixth, achieved in 1999.

Davu was a member of that squad before being head-hunted by New Zealand the following year.

Fiji undertook a tour of Australia prior to the SPG and will likely have more warm-up games prior to the World Champs in New Zealand.

The Cook Islands have also relied on New Zealand-based players but do not have the depth of talent playing at the highest level than Samoa has. But still they have a group of match-hardened players such as Ritua Petero, Holly Solomona and former Wellington Shakers shooter Crystal Kavana.

They missed several key players at the South Pacific Games but should have them back for November. With the no-nonsense No’ovao calling the shots, the Cook Islands will struggle to better their best ever placing of fifth achieved in 1991. However, they have the potential to cause an upset given their home support in Auckland. The Cooks warmed up for the World Champs with practise games organised in New Zealand.

New Zealand are the reigning World Champions but their hold on the crown is shaky given Australia’s dominance in their most recent encounters.

Australia’s smaller but quicker team has got the better of the more physical Silver Ferns, bolstered in recent years by a host of players of Pacific ancestry such as Davu and Vagana among them.

But the Aussies have found a way around that with a style of offense designed to counter the physical Kiwis. The Australians have added a dose of Pacific steel of their own on the defensive end too with Mo’onia Gerrard of Tongan descent, and Selina Gilsenan, of Rotuman/Fijian descent, quickly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with since their came on the scene in 2005.

But the Silver Ferns have the home advantage and will warm to the fact they are playing in Auckland, the world’s biggest city.

With Auckland-based island talent such as Maria Tutaia, Sheryl Scanlan and Paula Griffin at their disposal, the Silver Ferns will look for familiar surroundings as inspiration to overcome the Australian threat.

The 2007 World Championships which run from November 10-17 were switched to New Zealand from Fiji after last year’s military coup.

It was a big loss financially for the Fijians who are expected to make millions from hosting its first ever World Champs, the first time the event would have been held in the Pacific.

The World Championships will be played in a round-robin play-off format with the five top seeds—New Zealand, Australia, England, Jamaica and South Africa—original host Fiji and the ten regional qualifiers are allocated into four pools, with four teams each.

A total of 48 games will be played with each team playing a total of six games.

At the end of the round robin, all teams will be re-ranked from 1 to 4 within their pools based on the points gained from their pool game results.

The top two ranked teams from each pool move to the Section Games in the 1 to 8 section, while the bottom two ranked teams from each pool move to the Section Games in the 9 to 16 section. All points gained from the round robin games are discarded.

Both the 1 to 8 and 9 to 16 sections commence quarter-finals, semi-finals and final play-off games, scheduled for the last four days of the tournament.

The Cook Islands face Jamaica while Samoa plays Australia in their first games on November 11, while Fiji takes on Jamaica the following day on November 12.