Netball: Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua ponders selection strategy

Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua has got a lot of thinking to do about how she approaches squad selections later this year.

New Zealand has test series against England and Australia in September and October and Dame Noeline said a slightly different selection strategy might be warranted, given it was early in the World Cup cycle.

"There's got to be a lot of thought into how we're going to approach this year especially, and then we'll probably have to build upon that the year after.

"Now it's probably a question of who is the starting seven, who is the spine? And we probably don't have that same stability in individual positions, to be exactly clear about who people are and their ability to last the whole game at the intensity that's required.

"So looking at positions against various opposition, and maybe having two people cover a position, and if I need changes, then I'm going to be very clear strategically what those changes look like."

The Silver Ferns have three years before the 2027 World Cup, and any test series between now and then are precious for intelligence gathering and exposing players to international netball.

Dame Noeline said it would be a balance between picking players the selectors thought were the future, while making sure they were ready.

"I don't feel in some of these players that they're quite ready to take that next step up. If we had a huge amount of depth within our country, then I might be able to play that tune of looking in three years' time, but I don't feel we have that depth in certain positions, so I've got to be quite strategic."

The Silver Ferns coach described the standard of this year's ANZ Premiership as "all right".

"The biggest thing that jumps out to me is inconsistency. There's times where it's been fantastic netball to watch and then there's times when it's just mediocre.

"Overall when I look at the stats, probably the turnovers are too high. Last year I think on average, it was something like 27, now we're hitting the 37 mark, so that's an increase of 10. Also probably our gains are too low, so we're not getting enough intercepts or forcing the ball to be turned over."

Dame Noeline said it meant when players came into the Silver Ferns' environment, she had to be very targeted about how they could be fast tracked.

Three players, outside of the Silver Ferns, had caught her eye, including development squad member Parris Mason.

"Parris Mason has been doing a great job, and that's probably her connection as well with Kelly [Jackson], but she's turning over a lot of ball and seems to be getting some really good minutes as well as a goal defence.

"I've been impressed with her, and she just got a bit of fight and a bit of spirit behind her. She can do the one-on-one marking quite tight, and it exposes to some degree our goal attacks, which is sort of similar sort of marking as Australia. She's also not afraid to leave the circle to go out for a hunt.

"With ball in hand she's got long vision as well into the circle, and she's not afraid to let it rip. These are the things that catch my eye, but also what's required in the goal defence position."

Dame Noeline said Georgia Takarangi was another defender who was standing out.

Takarangi was a late bloomer to elite netball, but after a couple of strong seasons with the Magic was named in the 2021/2022 Silver Ferns development squad.

At 26, she got her one and only Silver Ferns Test cap to date, when she came in as injury cover for a series against England in 2021.

After some positional experimentation, the Magic defender had found her feet in the goal defence position this year and at 29 years old was playing her best netball.

"Georgia Takarangi has been doing well and has once again been turning over ball, and her connection with Erena [Mikaere] has become quite solid as a combination alongside Georgie Edgecombe," Dame Noeline said.

Takarangi had picked up the second most intercepts in the league so far this season, second only to Silver Fern Kelly Jackson.

Twenty-year-old Pulse shooter Martina Salmon was also impressing Dame Noeline.

"Considering she came into the mix initially as an injury replacement is doing well. Her ability just to turn and shoot whether it's from mid range or long range, she's not quivering on taking the shot.

"There's bits and pieces where people are playing well, but then probably inconsistent at certain times. But I think there's a new breed of younger players coming through, and that's quite exciting to see."

Former Silver Fern Kimiora Poi is having a strong season for the Tactix. Poi first debuted for the Silver Ferns in 2019 and has 10 Test caps but was demoted to the development squad a couple of seasons ago.

But the Silver Ferns coach has noticed the improvements Poi has made to her game.

"We actually met up with Kimiora on a Zoom [last week], and complimented her on the shifts in her game.

"I think there's a level of maturity, that she's clear on her own identity and how she wants to play the game. Also noting her own strengths, which is obviously her speed and then we see that as well in her ability to turn over ball defensively, that stands out.

"I think also her leadership as well, she's very stable in the attacking end and working with others in and around. There's still areas of her feed - we'd like her to let that ball go. But a thing that's really standing out for me is just the consistency from one game to another so she's come a long way."