After requiring extra time to beat England last week, the Silver Ferns witnessed another netball nation bridge the gap on the game's powerhouses as Jamaica scored a rare win over Australia in Kingston today.
Australian defeats are usually welcome developments, but any joy at the world champions' 55-56 loss was tempered by the realisation New Zealand are the buoyant Sunshine Girls' next target.
World No 4 Jamaica joined England as a genuine threat to netball's established world order a year out from the Commonwealth Games when they secured their first win against Australia since 1998 -- their fourth in 34 attempts.
The slender triumph amid a raucous atmosphere enabled Jamaica to square their series after pushing Australia desperately close before losing the opener 51-53 on Saturday.
The quality of Jamaica's performances has probably shelved any plans by Silver Ferns' coach Ruth Aitken to give some of her squad newcomers game time in their series opener on Wednesday (1pm NZT).
"We're weighing up that," she told NZPA today. "One of the goals of this tour was to develop further combinations but yes, we also want to win.
"How we juggle that is the challenge." New Zealand name their squad of 12 from a tour party of 15 tomorrow, and with everyone fit for selection it is unlikely to deviate from the line-up that beat England 65-59 in Bath on Friday after the scores were locked 51-51 at fulltime.
There may be minor positional tinkering with the starting seven, but Aitken's priority is to preserve a proud record that features just a solitary loss -- 44-53 at Kingston in 2002 -- in 42 previous tests against Jamaica.
"We'd like to get more players out there but it's very important we win these games too," she said, hinting Camilla Lees, Charlotte Kight and Grace Rasmussen will remain on training duties.
New Zealand are in the third phase of an arduous tour that saw them win the inaugural Fastnet World Series final -- against Jamaica -- before being pushed to the brink by the English.
Fatigue finally caught with the Australians today with coach Norma Plummer using all 12 players -- a rarity for her coaching regime, although wing defence Renae Hallinan and shooter Sharelle McMahon succumbed to injury.
Aitken felt her players had all recovered well since arriving from England and acclimatising to 33degC heat.
The team have been limited to one training session a day instead of the standard two due to venue availability -- a possible blessing.
The Silver Ferns will need to be on their game against a well-drilled Jamaican unit that has finally complemented their panache with tighter discipline under coach Connie Francis.
"It's their athleticism that's really challenging," Aitken said.
"You think you're free but they are so explosive they can come through and take ball and do stuff physically that we probably can't do," she said.
New Zealand won the Fastnet final 32-27 but Jamaica have been bolstered by the return of former Wellington Pulse defender Althea Byfield.
"They're definitely a stronger unit than in Manchester with Byfield there," Aitken said.
The second and final test is on Friday (1pm NZT).
