Returning Silver Ferns shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit, who had made herself unavailable for selection after the 2023 World Cup, did not feature in last year\u2019s series but said there was one positive to changing the tie-breaking method. <\/p>\n
\u201cWatching last year\u2019s game when there was an ACL injury and a few people cramping, the girls are probably not used to playing at that level for an extra 20 minutes, so then the injury risk comes in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sunday Aryang suffered an ACL injury in last year’s Constellation Cup extra-time decider. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me personally I\u2019m happy with that, but obviously it makes it a bit niggly if it\u2019s 2-2. But I think in terms of injury, it\u2019s probably better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selby-Rickit was named as part of a 14-strong New Zealand squad<\/a> for the series, with three adjustments to the Commonwealth Games gold-medal-winning squad that went unbeaten in Glasgow.<\/p>\n She is back for the first time since the 2023 World Cup, while midcourter Peta Toeava has also been included. Defender Parris Mason replaces Catherine Hall<\/a>, who suffered an ACL injury in Scotland.<\/p>\n Coach Dame Noeline Taurua<\/a>, who recently re-signed through to next year\u2019s Netball World Cup<\/a>, said they want to make the tiebreaker irrelevant.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way is just to do three-zip or four-zip and not worry about it. But it is what it is. We just get on with it and try and win that game as it is. We\u2019ve never got into the position where it\u2019s been a worry to some degree, but I don\u2019t know. Every performance is where it counts, so you just go for the win and just keep it nice and clean, take control of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Selby-Rickit was selected as a reserve for the Commonwealth Games. Despite two full years out of the Ferns fold, she had an inkling she would be back.<\/p>\n The 66-test veteran said her experience playing in Super Netball for the Queensland Firebirds made her want to return to the international arena.<\/p>\n \u201cI was planning on having a year off and doing a bit of travel, and then that was extended into a bit of study and things like that. So after a couple of years I thought maybe that was the end, but just seeing the standard of the team at the moment, how they performed at Commonwealth Games, obviously winning the gold and also playing in Australia against quality opposition week in, week out, it just reminded me how much I love to be tested at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n The Silver Ferns had a three-day camp last week after the full 2026-27 squad was named.<\/p>\n Selby-Rickit said the environment has definitely changed since 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way the girls communicate, it\u2019s really clear; the way the trainings are, the girls are just always on top of their game. <\/p>\n \u201cOften when you come back after annual leave, you\u2019ve got to blow those cobwebs out, and those first couple of trainings are a little bit not at the standard you\u2019d expect, but these girls have come back from their holiday, and I was just super impressed with the quality, just everything.\u201d<\/p>\n The day before each test, a team of 12 will be named from the 14 available players.<\/p>\n \u201cMy intention at the moment is to get everybody out on court, but we\u2019ll just have to wait and see,\u201d Taurua said. \u201cInjuries could happen, or we have to manage a load.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the purpose is to get everybody out, but I\u2019ve got to do it in a way where we keep the stability within the squad and also that we\u2019re going out there for the win.\u201d<\/p>\n Toeava missed out on the Commonwealth Games squad, with Taurua opting for midcourters who can cover multiple positions.<\/p>\n Taurua intends to play the specialist wing attack in her preferred position, but admits there is strong competition for court time.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is strong, and her connection to our shooters is one of her strengths. The first bit would be just getting her back in. When she was with the team last year, I obviously wasn\u2019t there, but just re-establishing her in regards to our court systems and the connections as well with the shooters. She\u2019s a leader in her own right, so she does that normally.\u201d<\/p>\n The four-match Constellation Cup series starts in Auckland on October 18, Christchurch on October 21 and then games in Sydney and Melbourne.<\/p>\n The squad-naming comes with the sport\u2019s domestic future beginning to take shape<\/a>. Private investors Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams have signed a non-binding term sheet with Netball New Zealand to govern a new franchise league<\/a> from 2027.<\/p>\n Constellation Cup Silver Ferns v Australian Diamonds<\/p>\n Match 1: Sunday, October 18 \u2013 Spark Arena, Auckland, 7.30pm<\/p>\n Match 2: Wednesday, October 21 \u2013 Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch, 7.30pm<\/p>\n Match 3: Sunday, October 25 \u2013 Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, 6pm NZT<\/p>\n Match 4: Wednesday, October 28 \u2013 John Cain Arena, Melbourne, 9.30pm NZT<\/p>\n Nathan Limm<\/a> has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast<\/a> and commentates rugby and netball for Gold Sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Returning Silver Ferns shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit, who had made herself unavailable for selection after the 2023 World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9092,85,1135,9218,12974,16458,10542,41554,86192,141528,10541,305,685,16762,111,43,139,69,39429,21984,91929,46028,7457,764,1361,8731,61,1530],"class_list":["post-614024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-against","tag-australia","tag-australian","tag-before","tag-change","tag-constellation","tag-cup","tag-diamonds","tag-eliminates","tag-extratime","tag-ferns","tag-have","tag-last","tag-netball","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-react","tag-reacted","tag-repeat","tag-rule","tag-silver","tag-tests","tag-that","tag-thriller","tag-to","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Te Paea Selby-Rickit last played for New Zealand in 2023. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua (left) admitted there is hot competition for selection within the squad. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n