Netball World Cup 2023: Silver Ferns through the looking glass

All season it has been referred to in shorthand as the midcourt puzzle.

With the Silver Ferns shooting and defensive ends having a settled look about it over the past few seasons, the make-up of the Silver Ferns’ midcourt for next month's Netball World Cup in South Africa, has been the most vexing question of the 2023 ANZ Premiership.

The permutations and speculation were endless. Even veteran midcourter Gina Crampton admitted to playing amateur selector at times during the season.

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In the end, poor office architecture helped provide the answer to the mystery.

As media gathered at the Netball NZ headquarters ahead of Wednesday's team announcement, the lift doors opened to reveal Pulse midcourt dynamo Maddy Gordon lurking in one of the glass-walled offices.

And just like that, the picture had revealed itself.

Official confirmation of her place in the squad came 15 minutes later when Netball NZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie, with all the gravitas of a war-time prime minister, stood unflinching at the podium to read out the 12-strong line-up and three travelling reserves to a live TV audience.

Gordon was one of six Silver Ferns who will be appearing in their first World Cup, alongside Maia Wilson, Whitney Souness, Kelly Jury, Kate Heffernan and Grace Nweke - who at 21 is the youngest in the Ferns squad and arguably key to the Ferns’ championship hopes in South Africa.

Then there's the old hands. Six players remain from the side that took out the 2019 World Cup final in Liverpool, although only three of those - Crampton, Jane Watson and Ameliaranne Ekenasio, who will captain the side - took the court in the thrilling one-goal win over Australia.

But much of the early questioning focused on who wasn't there - Mystics’ playmaker and fan favourite Peta Toeava, who has formed a lethal combination with Nweke over the past few seasons.

Taurua, in her typically upfront style, outlined the rationale for the decision with the same level of transparency as the walls of the Netball NZ meeting rooms.

Selecting a World Cup squad is very different to picking a side for a test series, she explained.

The demands of tournament play, in which teams are faced with a gruelling schedule of eight games in 10 days, means selectors need to apply a different set of criteria to their decision-making. Versatility, endurance and experience are considered key attributes.

"World Cups are totally different. Because of the games being back-to-back-to-back and the hardest games coming at the end, you’ve got to be able to run. We’ve known from experience that if you can't, it impacts on everyone else," said Taurua.

Taurua was also clear that Gordon made it impossible for the selectors to leave out.

"That's a great position that she put herself into. She has worked very hard to be selected."

Gordon displayed some of that trademark energy at Wednesday's team announcement. The 23 year-old midcourter bounced on the balls of her feet as in interview after interview she was asked about the moment she learned she had made the squad (it involved a well-timed stop for a coffee on her way to a Pulse season debrief in Ōtaki).

Having been in and out of the test side since debuting in 2021, Gordon said she believed more consistent game time in the centre bib for the Pulse helped seal her spot in the World Cup squad.

Gordon remembers watching on in awe as the Silver Ferns won the World Cup four years ago. She says to be a part of the team to defend it is a dream come true for her.

Just don't remind Taurua that the team are defending champions. She's never been one for labels.

"For me, it sort of has negative connotations if I’m going to be honest. If you’re defending something, you have a defensive mindset. The way I look at it is, we’ve got to go out and attack the tournament and play to win."