By Hamish McKay
The Australians didn't have their usual ammo last night, making uncharacteristic mistakes thanks in part to constant pressure from the Silver Ferns.
“Our ball handling was poor, timing was poor, defensive pressure was poor and you know I could keep listing things that we didn't do well and NZ did. And they certainly put us under pressure, they had a good game,” says Australian captain Sharelle McMahon.
The Ferns were good right throughout the court, dominant on defence, magic through the midcourt and accurate on attack.
“I think it was a change in attitude, also an increase in intensity, a back to basics approach in the way that we moved and got free on court and then just fire and determination,” says Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken.
Irene van Dyk stood tall when Aussie defending sensation Susan Furhmann was brought on in the second quarter.
“I said all along it was going to be murder on the dance floor when we left Adelaide and I’d said all along that Irene would be sitting down doing that same game,” says Australian coach Norma Plummer.
Danika Wiipiti made the most of her chance when she was brought on in the third, Ruth Aitken giving 11 of her 12 players the invaluable experience of playing against Australia.
“It was really important and we know Katrina [Grant] who never got on last night has really good experiences against Australia and when we get to those play off matches in Delhi, we need to know everyone has confidence to get out there and perform,” says Aitken.
Right now their sights are on repeating the performance against Australia in Auckland on Sunday and coming away with a test series win.
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