Several teams have threatened to break the long-established pecking order of world netball in recent years and that finally came to pass when anything but the norm unfolded at the sport’s latest showpiece event in Cape Town.
The emergence of national leagues around the world has resulted in a more diverse representation of players getting exposure in top quality competitions while the growing investment in women’s sport has also helped the less resourced nations find a foothold in netball’s evolvement.
Held on the African continent for the first time in its 60-year history, one fixture remained unchanged at the 2023 Netball World Cup, with Australia continuing their remarkable strike rate of contesting every final since the tournament’s inception in 1963, and winning it for a 12th time.
Other than that familiar scenario, the 16th edition of the World Cup was far from normal. England beat Australia and the Silver Ferns for the first time at a World Cup to progress to their first-ever final.
In the same breath, Jamaica also beat the Silver Ferns for the first time at a World Cup, going on to repeat the dose in the bronze medal match to deny the New Zealand team a medal for the first time while also relegating them to fourth.
Dealt a major blow when losing key shooter Grace Nweke to injury in the early stages of the tournament, the Silver Ferns attack line struggled for consistency in the aftermath and the New Zealanders were left to ponder what might have been.
“Like always, you go back and lick your wounds,” Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said.
“We’re very clear that we’re No 4 which has never happened to the Silver Ferns in a World Cup, so there’ll be a lot of questions, a lot of reflections and a lot of learnings that’s come out of this experience for players moving forward, and for some who won’t be on the court ever again.
“It’s an experience and you’ve got to go back and reflect, see what you can do better and see where the next stages will lead us.”
The coach pointed to the depth of experience in the Jamaica and England sides, boasting 597 and 828 caps respectively to the Silver Ferns 478.
“That makes a difference in regards to experience and our maturity out on court and the only way that you can get that is by being out there,” she said.
“We’ve got to lick the wounds and take accountability for where we are.
“There's like six teams who are vying for the top. We're not number one, we're not number two or three at the moment and I think for netball in general that can only be a good thing because you can't just have New Zealand and Australia vying for things.”
Still in the infancy of her international career, talented young midcourter Kate Heffernan was named the midcourter of the tournament and Taurua feels there is a solid core to carry the team through the next cycle.
“We're actually not looking too bad moving forward, and also when I look at some of the other teams, I would assume some people will drop off in the next cycle,” she said.
The tournament also highlighted the growing strength of African nations, with the well-performed Uganda achieving their highest finish of fifth, just ahead of South Africa in sixth and Malawi in seventh.
Qualifying for the World Cup for the first time, Tonga made a sizeable impression when finishing eighth of the 16 competing nations.
While it was a disappointing campaign for the Silver Ferns, the health of international netball is in good shape and that’s got to be a good thing.
Final Placings
1. Australia
2. England
3. Jamaica
4. New Zealand
5. Uganda
6. South Africa
7. Malawi
8. Tonga
9. Wales
10. Scotland
11. Fiji
12. Trinidad & Tobago
13. Zimbabwe
14. Barbados
15. Singapore
16. Sri Lanka