Commonwealth Games Netball Final 2010
Photo courtesy of Graham Hills via Flickr.com
Did you see the CWG netball final between the Ferns and the Diamonds? Surely, the best game of netball ever seen. I’d watched the bronze medal match between England and Jamaica which I thought was really entertaining but the final was in a different league entirely. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the second half. Both teams had their chances to win the match during normal time and all credit to the Diamonds for overturning a 7-goal deficit to level the scores. Would love to know what was going through the minds of all the players and what Plummer and Aitken said to their troops to spur them on.
I’d like to think that people who weren’t familiar with the modern game who saw that match or even the bronze medal match, would have thought, ‘Wow, what a fantastic game netball is. Why isn’t it on TV more often?’ It would also be nice to think that the people who decide which sports to show on TV were watching and thinking the same thing. The final will certainly have done a lot to get people talking about the sport but in reality I’m not sure much will change with regards to media interest in netball. I don’t know who has the TV rights to the match footage of the final game but they should get it out on DVD quick. There’s a couple of million New Zealanders who’d surely buy a copy in a flash.
It was a shame that there were so many empty seats for the group games but at least there were a decent amount of people watching the final. I was watching in the UK and I was disappointed that the BBC didn’t show a live broadcast of the Gold and Bronze medal matches on the main BBC channels but the highlights of the few games they did show were better than nothing. I have left a comment on the BBC website here just to say how great I thought the game was. I suggest that wherever you can, leave a comment (good or bad) on the netball articles you’ve read or about the TV coverage in your area. If enough of us start making regular comments, we might get noticed and you never know we might start a revolution!
Were you lucky enough to see any of the netball coverage during the Commonwealth Games and what did you think of the awesome final?
Themocracy
I wouldn’t have missed the Commonwealth Games Netball final for the world . Maria Tutaia winning shot at goal is going to go down in New Zealand sporting folklore .
It was an amazing moment! Tutaia was as cool as a cucumber too. Couldn’t believe it when Van Dyk missed and then Cox missed at the other end. Nail biting stuff. Can the Ferns win the World Champs next year too?
The Silver Ferns must stand at least a fair chance of reclaiming there World Champs crown . Although Ruth Aitken won’t likely have any ex players to call upon from the wildness .
I would say the Ferns stand a good chance of winning World Champs although I loved someone’s description that Plummer will come out fighting like a wounded rhino. That painted a great picture in my mind. Speaking of ex-players, whatever happened to the likes of Adine Wilson & Anna Rowberry – did they retire or just take a break to start families?
Adine Wilson & Anna Stanley (nee Rowberry) both retired from netball to focus on their families.
Anna Stanley has done commentary for Sky TV’s coverage of the ANZ Champs for the last couple of years.
I hope they publish a DVD of the bronze medal play off with the final it would be great to haul that little gem out whenever the sporting blues hit lol. I watched the final live but turned it off just before Catherine Cox shot for a gold winning goal in normal time and covinced NZ had lost went out to drown my sorrows at my local pub. It wasn’t until 2 hours later I decided to check my facebook on my iPhone and my friends were all raving about the best game of netball ever played and New Zealand had won The gold medal in double overtime! Drowning my sorrows became an all night celebration and to have the DVD to watch the whole game and medal ceremony would be priceless to any Kiwi sporting collection, right up there with New Zealands world cup rugby win, world cup rugby league win, Americas cup win the list goes on…….lol
How could you have turned off that game! Your friends must give you a hard time about that because it was the best game of netball ever. You Kiwis certainly have much to crow about on the sporting front but can the Ferns win the World Champs next year? I’m looking forward to January 2011 when the Ferns come over to play England and to seeing what happens in the Tests between Jamaica and Australia, on Jamaica’s home turf. With ANZ Champs and UK Superleague also starting in the NY, there lots of good netball coming up.