Netball Australia unbeaten in test series

Press, 4 June 1984, Page 14

Netball Australia unbeaten in test series

By

KAY FORRESTER

Young Australia took a clean sweep in the netball test series against New Zealand at Cowles Stadium, Saturday, winning the third test by 62 goals to 35.

Australia had too much speed and fitness for the New Zealanders, who looked sluggish by comparison. The New Zealand coach, Marion Smith, acknowledged the inferiority of her side’s fitness before the match and it was the telling factor. Australia played driving netball, using all the court. New Zealand spent much of its time passing backwards because there was no opening to play the ball forward. Miss Smith tried the substitution rule at half-time to add pace to the flagging New Zealand effort. She moved Rita Fatialofa from wing attack to centre, bringing Selina Matenga on to the wing. Gael Robinson came in the defence at goal defence, with Julie Carter moving across to wing defence. Barbara Webster, centre, and Therese McCabe, wing defence, went off.

Webster had had an unhappy day in the centre, throwing some wild passes. The new combination proved no more capable of matching the Australians. Too often mistakes and loose passes gave away precious possession. The Australians were not slow to pick up the loose ball. New Zealand slipped further behind as the match continued. At the end of the first quarter the score was Australia 14, New Zealand 8; at half-time it was 27-16. at the third quarter 41-25. The players to stand out were the goal-keepers for both sides. Kelly Devery, for Australia, gave Canterbury’s representative Jan Pickering a difficult time. Any high pass into Pickering was snatched away by Devery and the ball whisked to the other end for an Australian goal. For New Zealand. Denise

Felix, from North Shore, had an excellent match. She tipped numerous balls to her teammates and stopped several Austrlian moves with intercepts. Better supported in the second half, with Robinson also taking a number of well-timed interceptions, Felix stopped the Australian score from being any greater. Australia’s was a team effort with Vicki Wilson and Wendy Etherington, the latter playing her first test of the series, finishing off with goals. The Australians seemed to be more aware of the court space available, often playing the ball back into court after it seemed to be beyond reach and out of court. New Zealand moved the ball down the court swiftly on a few occasions and Pickering, with the vocal

support of her home crowd, netted. She elected later in the match to pass rather than shoot, a tactic that nearly always lost New Zealand the ball. One notable example saw a back pass go out of court for an Australian throw-in almost in the Australian goal third. Pickering and Tracy Eyrl missed too many goals for New Zealand to ever be seriously in contention to win. Ms Smith had hoped the New Zealand side could at least close the deficits of the previous two tests. Saturday’s 62-35 loss was in fact the most convincing of the three tests. New Zealand paid the price of not selecting specialist players for their chosen positions, depending instead on players adapting to positions they had not played before.