10 Aug 2010

Plummer says extra height in Australian defence troubling Jamaicans

3:07 pm on 10 August 2010

The Australia netball coach Norma Plummer believes extra height in her team's defence is troubling Jamaican sharp-shooter Romelda Aiken going into tomorrow's second Test in Sydney.

After Jamaica lost the first test 59-38 in Melbourne on Sunday their coach Connie Francis said Aiken's 27 goals from 36 attempts at 75 per cent, was due to failure to readjust to the Caribbean style after spending a third trans-Tasman season with Queensland Firebirds.

However Plummer thinks otherwise, saying the added height in the Diamonds defence, particularly Laura Geitz and Susan Fuhrmann, unsettled the lanky Aiken.

Plummer says Australia needs taller players to match the likes of Aiken, and Silver Ferns Irene van Dyk, Daneka Wipiiti, and Maria Tutaia.