Tamsin Greenway: Vitality Roses Can Bring Game to New Zealand | Netball News

Vitality Roses return to court for the first time since January

In this week’s column, Tamsin Greenway takes a look forward to Vitality Roses’ three-test series against New Zealand, which begins Wednesday live on Sky Sports.

Excited? I’m. It is absolutely amazing to have Northern Hemisphere netball on the horizon and talk about the English players preparing to enter an international field.

That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy watching and discussing the ANZ Premiership and Suncorp Super Netball, but it will be really cool to see talent emerge in this part of the world and how they fare against the world champions.

The fact that this tour takes place, in the current environment, will have required so much work and so much has happened.

Jess Thirlby not being able to go out and be with the team is an incredibly unique and strange situation for her and the team to experience, the quarantine process that the England players will have gone through will have been very strange for them too.

Overall, everyone is so grateful to those who were able to make this international series on the world stage. The last few months have really shown how adaptable people can be, I have definitely experienced that in my role as Scotland’s head coach and moving forward I know we need to continue to be as adaptable as possible.

On the new episode of Out of the field, I asked Jess about her goals for this series and it was really interesting to hear her thoughts and goals. He shared that this will be a performance and development tour for Vitality Roses.

At first glance, performance and development don’t go hand in hand, but the reality is that with eight missing Roses players playing in Suncorp Super Netball, this group of players has a huge development goal. However, in international netball you can never stray from that element of performance.

For England, the days are gone when it’s acceptable to lose by 15 or 20 goals, you have to watch performance all the time and go out to win every match. I’ve been on tour in the past, knowing that with the team we’ve taken it’s more of a damage check on the scoreboard….

Jess talks about the England exit and victory, and as a result her team surprised everyone. When you look at the Silver Ferns squad, and add the fact that they are at home and they have had an entire ANZ Premiership season, it’s a huge demand for the English team. However, with the talent at their disposal, they have to believe they can do it.

There are several players on both teams that I am really excited to see taking the field. Starting with the English Vitality Roses and it’s the defensive circle I want to focus on.

Going back to the Vitality Nations Cup, there was always an experienced defender in the circle, whether it was Kate Shimmin or Stacey Francis, who excelled. This time Razia Quashie, Fran Williams, Halimat Adio and Vicki Oyesola will all go it alone. Jodie Gibson to some extent, too, because she’s been coming back out of the game for a long time due to injury.

I am so excited to see what they can do. As a defensive unit, and especially as a younger defensive unit, you enter the international netball arena with far less pressure than a young attacking unit. I want to see if these players have done their homework to face a kiwi team and if they take the field with a fearless attitude.

One area of ​​concern for me when it comes to Vitality Roses, is the WA location. Looking at the team, I suspect Laura Malcolm will take that bib and I’m not sure whether to move forward, this is her prime position in international netball.

I love Laura as C / WD and I believe that’s where she thrives. I hope they have given her a lot of training opportunities and helped her develop the role since they got back together. Building the connections and having the confidence to drive that end is vital in that position, especially against New Zealand. If anyone is up for the challenge, then Laura is.

Tamsin Greenway believes Laura Malcolm is up for the challenge if she were to play WA this series

During the series, I’d also like to see Yasmin Parsons given some time in the WA bib to see if she’ll be a real contender to make that point her breakthrough. Chelsea Pitman won’t be around forever and Nat Haythornthwaite plays in both positions so I think England need to find another WA that they can come forward and challenge.

When it comes to Silver Ferns, I was quite surprised by Dame Noeline Taurua’s team, but in a fantastic way because it showed me how much work they have done to enhance their depth of talent.

We all know they’ve had some really fundamental players who retired in the last year – Maria Folau, Casey Kopua and Laura Langman – and this series is missing others either through injury or other reasons, like Phoenix Karaka who was waiting for her. . first child and Kimiora Poi not selected.

I am so excited to see Monica Falkner act, I have heard around that she will have time in court during this series and I love to watch new young shooters coming. I’ve heard so many positive things about his game, so I’m curious to see how he goes when he enters the pitch.

I also want to see what Noeline decides to do with Jane Watson; where it decides to interpret it within the defensive unit and who keeps it company. With Karaka having been out for a while now and Katrina Rore not in this mix, it will be so interesting to see how their coach shapes their defensive side.

Seasoned defender Jane Watson will be pivotal in the Silver Ferns’ defensive circle

When it comes to winning and losing the tests themselves, there are a few key areas that I will focus on as I watch with my morning cup of tea. First, I’ll take a good look at the New Zealand shooting circle.

It is an area that England will really need to shut down and let’s see how many homework they have done to do so. I want to see the England defenders stick to the task from the first to the last minute, it’s fine to talk about the New Zealand style but facing it and countering it is a very different perspective.

England now fall into a very good play schedule against Australia and Jamaica, they do it quickly. However, against New Zealand they have tended to take some time to move on as it is such a unique way to play.

The three tests will take place on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in Hamilton

On the other hand, I want to see England’s WA-GA combination and how effective it can be. You can’t take a moment not to think out there, the way they defend always makes you question whether you can throw the ball.

The key will be how Serena Guthrie will be able to support them and how strong the England shooter will be under the post. As I said earlier, I hope the Roses have done a lot of work to cement that WA-GA combination, whatever path they choose.

Another thing Jess mentioned during Out of the field was that he was about to make changes to his lineup and that you should expect to see people get opportunities.

I really hope that happens and that the players out there have a chance to prove whether they can cut the mustard on the big stage or not. As a manager, when you are under pressure in a Test match it is not always easy, however there is no better time to try these players.

Of course, everything is made even more difficult by the fact that Jess is in England and can’t be on the sidelines in New Zealand, but I’m sure she will have a clear process with Kat Ratnapala and Colette Thomson on how they approach both matches. -day and 60 minutes match.

I can’t wait to see how Noeline copes with her changes too … what goals will she bring in matches? Will he do the same for the Vitality Nations Cup and pull the combinations back and forth until the final match? Will he remain tactically loyal to a team and take them to England? I don’t think we will know until the games are over.

As you can see, I am really excited to watch this test series for so many different reasons. I think England have enough talent within their team to bring the game to New Zealand.

Whether they can do this having had such a lack of under their belt match training and do it away from home is a huge question. There are ways to take down the Silver Ferns, however this is happening less and less under Noeline’s leadership. It will be tough for England… but certainly not impossible, carry it on.

Live netball returns to Sky Sports with Vitality Roses challenging the Silver Ferns in a three-round series in Hamilton. Join us for the first test on Wednesday from 6:00 onwards Sky Sports main event and mix.