Analysis - The Silver Ferns' team for this year's Commonwealth Games is shaping up as one of the hardest to predict ever and could mark a new era for the national side.
Because when a team is named for the 2023 World Cup 12 months later, it could look quite different again.
We might be saying good-bye to the days when a core group of players dominated their positions year after year and were noticeably better than their peers.
Silver Ferns lineup for the national anthem. Photo: Photosport
It was something that Silver Ferns' coach Dame Noeline Taurua noted with some degree of frustration during last year's Taini Jamison series against England, at a post match press conference.
"If someone can tell me what my strongest line is I'll be really happy about that because I feel like I've got quite a few."
Dame Noeline made similar comments after the Silver Ferns' narrow win over South Africa at the end of January's disappointing Quad Series.
"I'm not too sure if I have a number one line up ...I think at the moment we're not at the stage of having a strong seven where they can hold the game throughout."
As we approach the halfway mark of the ANZ Premiership, Silver Ferns' selectors will still have a number of question marks around who their strongest line up might be.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Part of that has come about as a result of greater depth and competition, and with that comes almost imperceptible differences between players vying for the same position.
When there's less depth, the cream can rise to the top more quickly.
Dame Noeline Taurua talks to her team during 2022 Quad Series. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
But in some cases it's been as a result of inconsistency, with players running hot and cold.
There are also players putting their hands up who have never been in the Silver Ferns' environment or had next to no time there.
Naturally selectors want to try out different players and give them opportunities to make a mark, leaving the door open for a bolter or two.
But the downside of not identifying a starting line up early in campaigns for pinnacle events is that combinations have less time to gel.
At the 2019 Netball World Cup veterans Casey Kopua, Laura Langman, Maria Folau, and Katrina Rore had played with each other for a number of years and all had over 100 Test caps each.
In the final against Australia, all seven starters played out the full 60 minutes and the deep connections that the players had on court put them in good stead when the Diamonds tried to run them down.
Throughout their careers you simply wouldn't bench the likes of a Kopua or Langman, because they were that much better than the next player.
The Silver Ferns won the Netball World Cup in 2019. Photo: © SWpix.com (t/a Photography Hub Ltd)
Since Langman retired in 2020 Dame Noeline has tried six different players in the centre bib, including Maddy Gordon during last year's Cadbury Men's series.
The difficult thing for the selectors is that none of those players has consistently stood out head and shoulders above the pack or had time to.
Young midcourters like Gordon or Mila Reuelu-Buchanan might be ready in another 12 months, but have barely spent any time there at Silver Ferns' level.
Of the current Silver Ferns' squad, Shannon Saunders is by far the most experienced member with 85 Test caps to her name after debuting in 2013.
But she's been used as more of an impact player over the past three years for captain Gina Crampton, so of those 85 Tests, she's started in 58 of them.
The netball playing country that boasts the greatest depth at elite levels is Australia. The most capped player in the recently named Diamonds squad is Liz Watson with 51 Tests.
The Australian players do get exposure though to some of the best international players through the Super Netball Competition.
At the other end of the scale, the England Roses have huge experience with several players in the side sitting close to or over 100 Tests.
It will be interesting to see how that experience or lack of serves the top three sides in Birmingham in July.
For now, the New Zealand selectors might put more weight than they have in the past on how a player matches up on the style of the opposition.
Grace Nweke got her debut against England last year. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Defensively, having lost the services of veterans Jane Watson and Katrina Rore due to pregnancy, the stocks are looking good again.
Encumbents Karin Burger, Sulu Fitzpatrick, and the in-form Kelly Jury were joined by returnees Kayla Johnson and Phoenix Karaka in January's Quad Series.
Add to the mix Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, who's returned well from injury and you've got some tough calls to make on who you will leave out.
That doesn't take into account plucky performances from Kate Burley and Elle Temu in this year's ANZ Premiership, and the possibility of former Australian player Kristiana Manu'a getting a look in.
Sokolich-Beatson might find the Silver Ferns' a harder side to crack into now than what she did when she made her debut in 2018.
Goal shoot Grace Nweke remains a major strike weapon in waiting. Now that she's banked a little bit of court time in the black dress, she can't be too far off from hitting her straps at the international level.
Pregnancies, injuries, and Covid disruptions have all added to the complex jigsaw puzzle of pulling the right team together for the Commonwealth Games.
But if anyone can mesh a team together in a short space of time Dame Noeline can and will relish the challenge.