Watch England's three-Test series against New Zealand, live on Sky Sports on October 28, 30 and November 1
Friday 25 September 2020 11:43, UK
With the Vitality Roses' New Zealand tour confirmed, head coach Jess Thirlby tells Sky Sports about their return to training and desire to come back even stronger than before.
The national side's three-Test tour of New Zealand was announced on Friday, and it will be the first time that both teams step onto an international court since January.
Thirlby announced her 2020-21 player group in July and with the government's go-ahead, those who are based in England were able to come together again as a group in August.
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Shortly after the Roses' camp commenced, Thirlby spoke to Sky Sports about her new player group, the nature of their training and their collective ambitions.
"I'm really confident and pleased with the player group that we've selected," she said.
"We've got a fantastic pool of players with great depth, and players who all have different types of experiences under their belts.
"What I love is that there's no hierarchy in this group. The Serena Guthries and the Jade Clarkes of this world are just as important as those who are making their debuts. Everyone blends together.
"Someone like Kira Rothwell has been doing extras with Jade Clarke. Kira is one of the youngest players in our Futures programme and it's brilliant that she can train alongside one of the most capped players in the world. You cannot underestimate the value of having that mix.
"Also, to see players like Jodie Gibson and Beth Cobden back on court and Serena (Guthrie) re-entering, how can I not get excited about the group that I get to work with!"
Everyone is contributing, I don’t want there to be a dependency on those who have been there for a while, I expect everyone to walk into the room and contribute.
England's first training block, which spanned over August, was a little different to normal. When the individuals arrived, they were put into small groups of six for the first few weeks and then that number increased to eight.
The groups instantly became known as 'pods' and Thirlby opened up about how she selected them ahead of their return to Loughborough.
"I had so many things going around in my head with them and it took me a good amount of time," she said.
"It was a real jigsaw in terms of trying to work them out. We almost had to plan as to how we'd like them to look four weeks from the start and then work backwards, because that would influence how they operated in their accommodation.
"My main priority, coming at it from a coach's point of view, was around positional balance.
"So, although we're restricted by numbers, I wanted to make sure that the groups had combinations that could still work together and learn habits and playing styles.
"Also, I then looked at a little bit at the blend of players who already had established relationships and those who didn't.
"I went around in circles with it for quite a while! I'd say to my team manager that I was done and then move again… I put a lot of thought into everything."
When the pods came together, competition was the order of the day with 'pod-offs' happening within seconds, according to Thirlby.
"My mission became to find as many different ways as possible to create competition because the players were desperate for it."
As they returned to training, Thirlby and her coaches followed all aspects of the government guidelines and with her players having had so much time away from a court, she was very aware of their conditioning.
"We needed to take it slowly initially and avoid too much reactive training," Thirlby said.
"So, initally I kept the movements quite simple, but add in cognitive training to overload the brain. It was fun to watch!"
Early on, Thirlby made sure that her players weren't being too hard on themselves after their enforced time away from the game.
"The first block of training was really about their physical adaptation back onto the court, I wasn't watching and basing selection on what I saw, it would be so unfair to do that.
"That doesn't mean that we didn't expect high standards, but I didn't want players putting unnecessary pressures on themselves because they felt a bit uncoordinated with their ball handling or worried that they didn't smash a particular test.
"I just wanted them to feel safe, comfortable and have a smile on their faces."
In the same way that the return to training process tested her players, Thirlby believes it stretched her as a head coach.
"It has been a challenge for me because normally I would create sessions that are all about chaos and how we work through that, so it's forced me to think differently and laterally."
Now, with their foundations in place and a significant block of training under their belts, things have moved on significantly for the Vitality Roses and Thirlby has a Test series to select for.
Early next week, she will announce a group that will be heading to New Zealand and those selected will have a chance play three matches against the world champions.
Dame Noeline Taurua's players will be arriving at the series, which is live on Sky Sports, having had the luxury of playing out a full ANZ Premiership season. On paper, that puts them in the driving seat but the Roses and their head coach are determined to shine on their return to court.
"We've got a big responsibility to come back as strong as we can, and even stronger than before," Thirlby said.
"We won't be beaten by this pandemic. Our ambition is the same, our belief is the same and we just need to have a little bit more courage along the way."
Watch the Vitality Roses' return to an international netball court as they take on the world champions the Silver Ferns in New Zealand. Enjoy every match of the three-Test series live on Sky Sports on October 28, 30 and November 1.
