Amazing Grace
Star shooter Grace Nweke is only 21 and heading to her first World Cup. But much of the Silver Ferns’ success rests on whether the connections to the towering figure fire.
Nweke already has international experience at the Commonwealth Games and Quad Series, withstanding the physicality of Australian defender Courtney Bruce — despite stating South African defender Phumza Maweni has been her toughest opponent.
If she plays the way she did in the ANZ Premiership final, the Ferns will be strong.
Zoning in
New Zealand’s zone defence has always caused a few headaches for others, and that becomes vital at a World Cup. Switching seamlessly from one-on-one marking to a zone keeps opponents guessing and puts doubt in the feeders’ minds.
Will be especially important against Jamaica with their aerial game and confusing the space in front of dominant shooter Jhaniele Fowler.
Shut them down
Every team has a playmaker and the earlier the Silver Ferns shut them down, the better. Most of those players — Helen Housby (England), Mary Cholhok (Uganda), Liz Watson (Australia), Karla Pretorius (South Africa) and Fowler (Jamaica) — are key cogs for creating opportunities and shifting the tempo in their team. The Ferns need to rattle them to affect the rest of their players.
In the middle
Questions lie around who will start at centre and wing defence. You would imagine Kate Heffernan will take the centre bib, shifting Karin Burger, arguably New Zealand’s best defender of late, out to wing defence. Connections are a must and that pairing will need to get going early.
They also offer extra height outside of the circle and Burger always does a mountain of work bringing the ball down on attack. If they can get going, they could be unstoppable. Maddy Gordon also offers speed off the bench.
Impact players
Another question mark remains around who will start at the back for the Ferns — Jane Watson or Kelly Jury? Both offer different styles. Watson is energetic, confuses the space and is out hunting, while Jury has one of the longest leans in the game, wraps up a shooter around the post and has a real presence at goal keep.
Using both of their styles, and injecting one another into the game when a change is needed, could be a masterstroke for the Ferns.
