A frustrated Dame Noeline Taurua hopes five players being sent home from Silver Ferns camp due to unsatisfactory fitness standards is a timely wakeup call.
The Ferns have a smaller group of players to pick from for March’s four-game Constellation Cup home series against Australia after five players failed their mandatory yoyo conditioning test last week.
A group of 26 players, including Silver Ferns, development squad members, and three under-21 players gathered in Wellington with five not able to meet the minimum 16.3 standard.
Taurua declined to single out the five players, but said it would become apparent when some weren’t named when the Ferns’ 12 to play Australia was unveiled on February 24.
Stuff understands the Ferns could be light in the defensive end against the Diamonds due to several players not satisfying regulations.
Fitness has been a non-negotiable for Taurua since taking over as national coach from Janine Southby in August 2018. Unless players were able to achieve the 16.3 minimum yoyo standard, they were ineligible for selection.
The Ferns’ strength and conditioning had improved hugely under Taurua’s watch and was a pivotal factor in their 2019 Netball World Cup title triumph.
While 21 players met the standard in Wellington, Taurua admitted it was disappointing some were still struggling.
“At the end of the day these athletes, this is their job,” she told Stuff.
“When you’re contracted to the Silver Ferns and the pathway to get to the Silver Ferns is through the ANZ [domestic premiership], you’re an athlete, and that’s your job.”
