The Wright Insight: Day seven

Tash Lewis and Rob Wright

Collingwood Magpies netball’s official 2019 Netball World Cup (NWC) correspondent, A.K.A the Magpies’ head coach, Rob Wright, will keep us up to date with all the very latest coming out of Liverpool.

Day 7 – Thursday 18 July

AUS V NZ

Earlier prediction Australia to defeat New Zealand – margin of 8-12.

I’m devastated with how far off I was with my prediction.

At halftime I was happy – thinking I was on track. All changed after the break when New Zealand came roaring back in what was a nail biting ending.

I had my own two players of the match:

No. 1 – today’s true MVP, I believe, was head coach Noeline Taurua.

• Noeline was really clever today – everyone else seemed bewildered by the changes but she was consistently looking to see what match ups worked best.
• Knowing today was an eye to the finals, I believe Noeline would’ve left today’s match with a really clear idea of what is and isn’t going to work if NZ come up against Australia in the final.

I was lucky to run into Noeline last night in my pursuit of locating a decent Indian restaurant in Liverpool. Navigation has never been my strong suit, I got lost and had to ask a nearby hotel concierge for directions. Coincidentally it’s the hotel the New Zealand team is staying as I spotted Noeline across the foyer.

We had a chat about the tournament – she mentioned her team being in a really good place. I complimented her on what exceptional job she’s done – in the space of 12 months the Silver Ferns have gone from team wreck to team slick.

Side note – the Indian restaurant (Yukti Liverpool) I gave a rave review, was really impressed. I pride myself in being a level six on TripAdvisor – the top 1 per cent of reviewers.

No. 2 – Steph Wood.

• Steph’s work in attack was strong, especially when there was a block in the court and difficult to get the ball through.
• She seamlessly weaved through blockage and fed and shot well. I think it was a bit stiff she didn’t receive player of the match as she did an exceptional job today.

New Zealand is building well.

• I do think a couple of match-ups early on though really played to Australia’s hand.
• When those match-ups changed we really saw NZ build momentum.
• The team NZ started with today, I believe, won’t be able to beat Australia.
• It will be interesting to see what line they run out against England.
• My gut feeling is the combination NZ put up against Australia today matches up much better against England – we could well see the same line up we saw today when NZ v England.

Australia need to address today’s high penalty count. They racked up 76 penalties and they’ll want to tidy that up. Lisa Alexander will think it’s too high and it’s something we’ll see addressed in the next two games.

ENG V SA

Earlier prediction England to defeat South Africa – margin of 6-10.

The other semi-final I got right. One point out, I’ll pay that.

• I believe this is the best England have looked – they won the first quarter by eight and the overall game by 11.
• A real battle between the gun English shooters and the gun South African defenders.
• The first quarter was no contest – the speed and movement of the English shooters tore South Africa apart.
• It took South Africa a quarter to find their rhythm and get the speed of the game under control – when they did they were terrific.
• The South African defenders began to work themselves back in the game following the break.
• England were clever, especially later in the match, they had four players on the bench and ended up playing all 11. This meant they gave bodies some valuable down time which will come handy in the next couple of days.
• Overall it was a great contest.
• The atmosphere was AMAZING – the England fans completely outnumber any other. Honestly not sure if there’s anyone left in England at the moment as they’re all sitting here in the stadium, well that’s what it sounds like anyway.

Future predictions

New Zealand to defeat England, margin 3-5.

Australia to defeat South Africa, margin 10-13.

In other news – I’m excited to see tomorrow’s weather is expected to be a top of 22 degrees with heavy rain by late morning. FINALLY some decent weather – I’ve been waiting for this all week!

Signing off.