The head coaches of the Samoa and Tonga netball teams say Fiji will be back stronger following their disappointing Oceania Netball Championship campaign in Nuku’alofa this month.
The Fijians, who dominated Pacific netball for a number of years, failed to make it to the 2027 Netball World Cup, finishing third at the week-long event behind rivals Tonga and Samoa.
The Fiji Pearls had played at the 2023 world meet along with Tonga, but could not repeat their qualification when the Tonga qualifier ended a fortnight ago. They lost to both Samoa and Tonga at the event.
But despite falling short, the coaches of both Tonga and Samoa believe the Fijians will rebound stronger.
Tonga Tala coach Jaqua Pori Makea-Simpson said the Fijians had a young squad who played well and took them to the wire in their contest.
“Fiji are a remarkable side,” she said.
“There is so much depth in Fiji netball that we never ever take them lightly as an opponent. It was a really, really tough match.
“They did an exceptional job at being able to set the tempo of the game. I think in the end it was probably experience at our end.”
“Fiji [is] really talented and have a really exciting future. But in the end, for us, we we have a team that with a core group have been together for a little while, and sometimes that’s a great thing for us to be able to rely on, which we did in the end.”
Samoa’s Natalie Mathews said they were challenged all the way by the Fijians in Nuku’alofa, and reckoned young players on both sides would come away more experienced after her own Tifaimoana played the Pearls.
“We kind of hit the third quarter, and I’d spoken to them about the composure,” she said of their clash.
“We have a very youthful side. We have four seniors, and the rest of them are Under-23. So between 19 and 23 years of age in an international match against a quality opposition like Fiji is a huge task.
“The ability to be able to stick to the plan, to have the confidence to play to their strengths, we spoke a lot about that throughout the week.”
Fiji’s netball team reached sixth in the world rankings following their performance at the 1999 Netball World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1999, under coach Julie Hoornweig.
They also ranked 10th following the 2011 Netball World Cup in Singapore.
The Pearls are currently ranked 16th, behind Tonga who are sixth and Samoa, now in 13th spot.
Samoa and Tonga coaches believe the Fijians will rebound stronger.
Facebook / Netball Fiji
Trusting the process
A new committee is now in charge at Netball Fiji, led by former captain Vasiti Vugakoto.
Vugakoto told the Fiji Sun newspaper in Lautoka over the weekend their focus now is working on getting back into the next World Cup.
She said the team would need regular international competition to improve their standing and prepare for the next qualification campaign.
“2027 will be a full-year programme for our Fiji Pearls – test series, overseas tournaments and invited countries to play in Fiji,” the former national star goal shooter said.
“Our girls need more tournaments and exposure to top-level competition and preparation for the next qualifier in 2028 for the World Cup in 2029.
“We’re in the process of improving our ranking by participating in Test matches against countries that are ranked higher.
“We have developed a three-year programme for the next World Cup, with the aim to qualify for the Commonwealth Games and Olympics. This is just the beginning.”
Fiji has featured in 10 World Cups, and the only other world meet they had missed was the 1995 World Championship in Birmingham, England.
