In the wake of the Netball Nations Cup, there has been some interesting discourse relating to the world order of netball and where the Silver Ferns sit as we enter a new World Cup cycle.
New Zealand has typically been Australia's greatest rival in the sport and the overall contest for the Constellation Cup has remained tight the past two years, but after the Silver Ferns failed to medal at the 2023 World Cup in Cape Town and had to settle for bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, there is unease about the team's next steps.
Coach Noeline Taurua was lauded in 2019 for her high standards and incredible tactics when the team broke a 16-year hoodoo against the Diamonds to win the World Cup final by one goal.
Fast forward to 2024 and in the wake of a third-place finish at the Nations Cup, Taurua is weighing up her future, with an announcement expected any day now.
The side has managed to hold its spot at number two in the world despite its slip in tournament standards and has consistently had to blood new players as retirements, injuries, pregnancy and most notably fitness standards have limited their talent pool.
Ahead of the Nations Cup, it was reported that Maia Wilson (48 caps), Tiana Metuarau (13 caps) and Peta Toeava (eight caps) had missed selection because they had failed to meet the required fitness metrics. In their place, the Ferns picked three debutants.
This is not the first time during Taurua's tenure that players have been cut for this reason and now there are questions as to whether this strict approach – requiring 16.3 in a yo-yo test and favouring fitness over experience – is still the best way to get results.
The other idea being floated regarding Silver Ferns selection is if Netball New Zealand should relax its ban on Super Netball to help the athletes better prepare for international competition.
When the eight-year trans-Tasman Championship split at the end of 2016, both Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand launched individual leagues with vastly different sets of rules.
Trying to safeguard its talent, New Zealand followed rugby's lead and made it a requirement for players to sign with a New Zealand Premiership team to be eligible for the Silver Ferns.
Only one overseas player can feature in each New Zealand team too, but neither of these rules have been implemented in Australia, where there's an unlimited cap on imports and the Diamonds can play overseas in a professional environment and still be selected for the national team.
Although there have been rare cases where New Zealand has granted its players an exemption to play Super Netball, it has not happened now since 2019 – the same year they last won a World Cup.
That season, Laura Langman, Katrina Rore and Maria Folau all played in Australia, while Taurua was also in charge at the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
New Zealand's incredible performance in that tournament of course wasn't down to just those three players, however, the intel they had on their Super Netball peers and time spent in the Australian high-performance system helped the cause.
In the years that have followed, the number of Silver Ferns gracing our shores has dwindled, despite reports that athletes have expressed their interest in Australian clubs.
That is until this year, when Sam Winders and Gina Crampton signed for the Giants and Elle Temu signed for the NSW Swifts.
Winders is set to take the place of Amy Parmenter at Giants, after the Diamonds-contracted midcourter moved to the Melbourne Mavericks, while Crampton and Temu have been picked up as training partners after following their partners overseas for work.
"I think it stems from the fact that they really back the league, which is fine, they believe it is good enough that players don't need to be heading overseas to find a better competition," Winders said.
"If more people did bypass the Silver Ferns to play in Australia then potentially they may have to change the rules … For now, I understand where they are coming from."
Just three caps shy of 50, Winders was named New Zealand's national player of the year in 2021 but hasn't taken the court in the famous black dress for two years.
She said the eligibility rule had not deterred her move because her goals were no longer focused on breaking back into the Silver Ferns squad, and instead, she's keen to fulfil a different dream she's always had – to play Super Netball – linking up with her former Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald.
"It's been a crazy few weeks, training has been intense and I think the biggest difference has been the skill level," Winders said.
"Everybody has come into the Giants pre-season with really good skills under their belt and I think that's what I've been most impressed with, the hand-eye ball coordination.
"It's something I experienced with Julie when I played under her for three years a decade ago, the emphasis on agility work, where you're constantly moving your feet; lots of changes in direction.
"It's Julie Fitzgerald 101 and something I've missed, but that's the real difference between the two leagues I've noticed, the amount of time and effort the Aussies put into developing those sort of bread and butter, foundational skills."
Both England and Jamaica's national sides have come a long way since their players started to feature in Super Netball, and many believe this has been a major factor in their quests to overtake the Silver Ferns' status as Australia's toughest international opponent.
However, when ABC Sport suggested a change of heart from Netball New Zealand could perhaps see Super Netball help the Ferns fix their selection issues, Winders said she hadn't noticed a clear difference yet in fitness between the leagues.
"In the last few years, there's been a big emphasis on fitness because of Noeline coming into the Ferns and having those yo-yo standards," Winders said.
"Most clubs are really on board with that so our teams are really fit in terms of running fitness, but that can only take you so far on a netball court.
"New Zealand teams may even have a higher yo-yo average, purely because we focus on that particular number when in my ideal world it would totally be focused on your skills.
"If you have the fitness to be able to back it up, you should just be able to play four quarters at the same sort of intensity, regardless of having a number to prove that you can."
As a midcourter, Winders has never had a problem reaching the yo-yo cut-off, yet feels it is unfair that genetics could be the sole reason a player doesn't make selection.
"I really respect that Noeline set her standards and she hasn't ever backed down from that, but people are built differently and also have different strengths and weaknesses," Winders said.
"I like it over here in that there's no expectations on a certain number and you can tell who has the engine to run anyway, so I really empathise with other players that have missed out because of that.
"It becomes a mental game for them to hit that target when they go into trials and that's all they are thinking about.
"Who knows, obviously Noeline is not going to have the job forever and I'm interested to see how it goes beyond her term."
If not Taurua, then who? This has been the question that has potentially kept the respected coach in the role for so long and given her the freedom to choose when she has had enough.
But is it time for a change? At the moment no clear candidate is putting their hand up.
Winders is likely to take the court in orange for the first time in one of the Giants friendlies before the pre-season Team Girls Cup in March.
Meanwhile, the Diamonds are next expected to face the Silver Ferns in October for the 14th instalment of the Constellation Cup.