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Silver Ferns ready to take next step up

With improvement being the key component, head coach Noeline Taurua is happy with the Silver Ferns progress after their first four games of the Vitality Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

Having the opportunity to test their abilities against the differing styles of Malawi, Barbados, Singapore and Zimbabwe to date, the Silver Ferns have posted convincing results but more importantly, have maintained a consistency of performance across all four outings.

With match-ups against Northern Ireland on Wednesday at 2am (NZ time) and defending champions Australia, Thursday at 9.30pm (NZ time) to complete Preliminary Stage Two, which will determine seedings for the play-offs, the Silver Ferns are mindful of the need to keep pushing on.

All 12 players have been given plenty of court time in the first four outings, offering variety and a number of alternative combinations with all four shooters recording encouraging returns.

We been working on our structures and identity for what seems like forever,” Taurua said.

“We’re very mindful about our own identity, our own style, being really dominant and enjoying our time out there and I’m happy with where that’s all tracking.

Us being able to turn ball over, get it back and secure our attacking end is coming along quite nicely, our error rate is really low and our shooting percentages are high. Every day it’s about producing incremental improvements and I feel in each game we have demonstrated that out on court.

Playing Northern Ireland next, it’s the balance of not getting too far ahead but using the opportunity to also prepare for Australia, work on our strategies and getting our mental space as good as it can be.”

For captain Laura Langman, there’s a feeling the intensity levels are slowly lifting for the Silver Ferns and it’s now time to consolidate and add the polish.

Our big challenge is coming out of the blocks and our ability to weather the storm, it was great we got to test that against Zimbabwe,” she said.

I like it when we settle into our business and it’s great to see the set piece actually starting to come together. Now, we need to start applying a bit more pressure as we come into the business end.”

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