If ever New Zealand netball had a chance to make a statement against Australia, it was in Christchurch on Wednesday night.
Australia was without its injured world-class players, Sharelle McMahon and Catherine Cox, while inspirational defender and captain Liz Ellis and Laura van Bertouch have both retired.
Instead, it became the Silver Ferns' sixth loss in their past seven tests against Australia, 51-53, and only victory in the second test in Auckland tonight will salvage reputations.
It was a strange test in Christchurch.
Sure, Casey Williams copped a nasty head wound from a stray Australian elbow but it lacked the fire and brimstone of some of the classic clashes of the past.
The Australians are under-strength and the Silver Ferns are in a holding pattern. Coach Ruth Aitken is in her seventh year as coach and 36-year-old Julie Seymour is captain.
There were not the usual devastated faces and expressions after the game. There didn't seem to be the hard edge to the Kiwis. Sure, it's important to be gracious losers but the Silver Ferns were capable of much better.
Clearly, they failed to capitalise on turnovers but they also seemed to lack at times the fire in the belly which separates winners and losers.
It might seem harsh to criticise the netballers but, as public sporting figures in New Zealand, they are tucked in closely behind the All Blacks, the Black Caps and the Warriors.
Aitken, as I see it, is under pressure.
Already fortunate to have retained the job after the failure in the World Cup in New Zealand last year, she needs to win tonight to re-assert her authority with the players and the public.
In the background is new assistant coach Wai Taumanu, the former Silver Ferns captain and an extremely tough taskmaster.
She has an uncompromising approach to the game and I would like to see her given a chance as head coach.
The Silver Ferns seem in need of a fresh voice and a fresh approach and Taumanu has certainly served her apprenticeship.
Some of the positional changes have also confused the New Zealand public.
Irene van Dyk has been the best goal shoot in the world for the past 15 years but now, in the twilight of her career, she has been shifted to goal attack.
It has been a failure but it hasn't been a raging success, either. It's a bit like Colin Meads being shifted from lock to loose forward at the of 35.
Meanwhile, Norma Plummer carries on her successful stint as Australian coach.
For a woman who once called the Silver Ferns a bunch of scrubbers - she did not intend the remark the way New Zealanders accepted it - we've warmed to her.
She's a genuine character in a netball world plagued by political correctness. But the Silver Ferns should be in doubt about what the public wants in Auckland tonight.
Forget the after-match hugs, kisses and other niceties, it just wants total intensity and a good win.
Anything less and the questions will about the Silver Ferns will became increasingly vocal.
CAPITAL CHANCE
Wellington should win the Ranfurly Shield today for the first time since 1982 when it plays Auckland at Eden Park.
Wellington has had seven consecutive bonus-point wins while Auckland has struggled.
But it brings back memories of a Ranfurly Shield challenge in 1994 when Otago, after beating Canterbury 56-25 at Carisbrook and subsequently showing good form, travelled to Christchurch with great expectations.
It lost 20-22, but it actually lost before that because it stopped attacking, stopped playing on instinct which had been a hallmark of Otago sides of the 1990s.
Wellington is heavily favoured to win today but it wll be conscious that, like Otago, it has a chequered history in shield challenges.
Its coach, Jamie Joseph, who played in the Otago challenge of 1994, will be able to tell his players from bitter experience that matches are not won until the last minute.
