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The Silver Ferns lost twice to a New Zealand men's Invitational team last week, but the games were good preparation for the Netball World Cup.
If you were at Pulman Arena for the Cadbury Netball Series last month, you would have heard Jane Watson say it almost every time the Silver Ferns got into the attacking third.
"Poise!"
Stuck in the defensive third, unable to present herself as an immediate passing option, the goal keep became an on-court reminder service, sharing that message – and others – with her team-mates.
One of those team-mates was captain Laura Langman, who confirmed being poised is something the team has put front and centre as they prepare for the Netball World Cup, which begins on July 12.
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"In games, for example like against the men, where it's very hard to turn over the ball, any ball you do get, you need to make sure it's a hundy per cent," she said this week, before the team flew out to England.
BRADLEY KANARIS/GETTY IMAGES
Laura Langman says the Silver Ferns will leave everything out on court at the Netball World Cup.
"Essentially that's what poise is for us. In your role, in your different positions, it will mean something different for you, but essentially, it is 'Let's get this'."
It's fair to say the Ferns have lacked poise at times over the past couple of years, especially when facing the Australian Diamonds and England Roses, who are considered the leading contenders to take out the World Cup.
If they can find some in Liverpool, where they will play six games in seven days before a potential semifinal, including a crunch clash with the Diamonds in the second preliminary phase, it will help them no end.
The Ferns had a year to forget in 2018, losing six of their seven games against the Diamonds, all three of their meetings with England and Jamaica, and to Malawi to boot.
They've only played three tests this year – two more losses, to the Diamonds and England, and an overtime win over South Africa – though they did have two tough outings against a New Zealand men's team last week to help get them ready for what awaits later this month.
Langman missed the worst bits of 2018 – the Commonwealth Games campaign where the Ferns finished without a medal for the first time – as she was not considered for selection while playing her domestic netball in Australia, but that rule has been relaxed, allowing her to come back into the fold.
She will captain the Ferns at the World Cup, having been voted in by her team-mates, and while she can't promise a fifth title, to join those won in 1967, 1979, 1987, and 2003, she is promising a full-blooded effort at what will almost certainly be her final major tournament.
"That's the million-dollar question isn't it?" replied Langman, when asked what it will take for her team to win the big prize.
"There's no one answer for it. We're going there to make a statement and wear the black dress proudly.
"Being the top national side, there's an expectation that comes with it, and results do matter, but for me personally, as part of the leadership, I want to make sure we leave everything out there and that we are literally dragging ourselves off the court."
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