Silver Ferns braced for Aussie bounce back

New Zealand assistant coach Wai Taumaunu may have enjoyed the satisfying sight of an Australian netball team in disarray last night, but she's not banking on it continuing much longer.

After fading to a 43-48 first-up loss in the three-test series in Adelaide last Sunday, the Silver Ferns catapulted back in Wellington last night with a stylish 59-40 win.

The New Zealanders made every quarter a winning one, extending a 16-11 lead after the first quarter to 31-19 at halftime and 45-30 at the three-quarter break. Eleven of the 12-strong squad got game time, without any discernible drop in quality.

The base for the win was laid by an excellent defensive team effort after Taumaunu had earlier targeted a lift in intensity from the midcourt in pressuring Australian ball. So while circle defenders Anna Scarlett and Casey Williams picked up tips and intercepts galore, it was the work done by Joline Henry, Laura Langman, Temepara George and Maria Tutaia further up the court that set up the flow of turnover ball.

However, going into Sunday's decider in Auckland, Taumaunu has no doubt at all the Australians will rebound from the loss that coach Norma Plummer could only describe as "a bit of hiding".

"As soon as we finished last night, we had to accept that Australia's unlikely to be in that sort of disarray again," Taumaunu told NZPA today.

"Sometimes, things just fall your way, and that was one of those games."

Diamonds captain Sharelle McMahon agreed, describing the match as one where nothing went right for her team.

"It was just one of those games - our ball handling was poor, our timing was poor, our defensive pressure was poor," she said.

"I could keep listing the things we didn't do well and New Zealand did."

Taumaunu was very careful to avoid extrapolating any long-term trends from the one-sided match, pointing out that the New Delhi Commonwealth Games just a month away were the main focus for both teams, as the Australians plot to retrieve the title stolen from them by the Silver Ferns at the 2006 Melbourne Games.

"You're only as good as your last game - while the score was a pretty good indicator of last night, it's probably not a good indicator of where the two teams are really at," she said.

"It was one of those games where everything fell into place for us and not a lot fell into place for the Australians. You don't expect that to happen twice."

Planning for Sunday's series decider in Auckland began almost at the final whistle yesterday, and while Taumaunu said there was plenty to be pleased about, there were also areas that needed improvement.

"We've spent most of last night looking at the video - it was a good performance, but it wasn't a perfect performance."

The Australian midcourt - Natalie von Bertouch, Kim Green, Lauren Nourse - showed chinks under pressure, but Taumaunu said there were glimpses of quality on individual plays that could cause problems.

The real concern came when the attacking line broke through the New Zealand defence from the centre pass, taking just three quick-fire passes to find shooter Catherine Cox posting up in perfect position.

"You could see what they were trying to do last night. It didn't come off, but we certainly expect them to come back with real fire, and put some of their short, flat, quick plays into play.

"There were some great examples of really good Australian play out there, they just didn't do it with any consistency."

Taumaunu said there was no lack of incentive to back up last night's win, especially as in recent years, the Silver Ferns had been "a bit up and down."

"We're starting to get to the level I think we're capable of, and the biggest thing for us is to ensure we stay there.

"There's no complacency. This is the last time we play Australia before the Commonwealth Games, so we want to send a message."

-NZPA