World 7 Arrive In NZ

MEDIA RELEASE
20 August 2009

World 7 Arrive In NZ

A World 7 side rich in international experience has arrived in New Zealand raring to take on the Silver Ferns in the first three tests of the New World International Netabll Series.

Bringing together some of the jewels in the crown of Jamaican, Australian, Samoan and English netball, the World 7 team intends to give the Silver Ferns a serious run for their money when the New World International Netball series begins in Wellington on Monday, August 24.

The side is coached by Julie Fitzgerald, four time Australian netball coach of the year, who steered the NSW Swifts to four Commonwealth Bank Trophy titles and the inaugural ANZ Championship. Fitzgerald, who has been a spectator at the World Youth Championships in the Cook Islands this past week, says she’s thrilled with the chance to coach such a cluster of high-calibre netballers to take on the might of the Ferns.

“It’s exciting to have so many different cultures and different strengths all rolled into one great team. It’s going to be a challenge to bring them all together as one in a short space of time, but that’s the real fun of it. And I have no doubts we can do it,” she says.

Among the stars in the side is former Australian shooter Megan Dehn, who says it’s a tremendous honour to be included in the World 7. Dehn, who has 20 international caps to her name, had put her netball career in hiatus until two months ago, when she was called into the Southern Steel side to help them reach the semifinals of the ANZ Championship.

“To be selected alongside the calibre of players in this World 7 team is just amazing. It’s not something I ever thought I would achieve, so it’s really humbling,” she says.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to play with the likes of Romelda, Geva and Sonia - not against them - and to play in New Zealand in front of the parochial crowds will be awesome. It’s a great chance to catch up with my old Australian team mates as well.”

The World 7 side amasses an incredible 467 international caps between them and truly boasts the benefits of youth and experience – from 20-year-old Jamaican Romelda Aiken, to 85-test veteran Sonia Mkoloma, whose international career with England spans more than a decade.

The World 7’s shooting artillery will be boosted by the arrival of towering goal shoot Aiken for the second and third tests of the series. Voted MVP of the 2009 ANZ Championships for the second straight year, Aiken comes fresh from playing in the World Youth Championship.

Still on a high from the Melbourne Vixen’s premiership victory, Natasha Chokljat – who was not available for the Australian Diamonds this year – has taken leave from her job with the AFL in the middle of the Aussie Rules season to join the World 7 across the Tasman.

English players Geva Mentor, Tamsin Greenway and Sonia Mkoloma are back in the Southern Hemisphere again having been back in the UK only a matter of weeks following their stints with the ANZ Championship.

Dehn expects the World 7 to put up a strong fight against the Silver Ferns in their three clashes. “It will be a tough ask - it’s hard to produce under pressure without the innate sense of knowing your teammates. But with the amount of talent in the team, anything is possible if everything clicks for us.

The key will be enjoying ourselves and the competition against the Silver Ferns, but at the same time expecting the best from each other and ourselves. It will be certainly great to watch.”

The last time the Silver Ferns played a World 7 side was in 2000, when the New Zealanders clinched the series 2-1.

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