The Fiji men’s netball team are anticipating a tough challenge at the 2024 Singapore Nations Cup scheduled from 02-08 December.
Fiji will take on Singapore, England, Hong Kong, New Zealand A and Australia 23&U at the Nations Cup. Fiji Men’s head coach Jioweli Makare understands the caliber of competition involving these top teams.
Makare has been closely assessing his players’ fitness, last week, he selected his final 12 players, deeming them to be in top form out of the extended squad.
Since this is their first international tour in over 20 years, Coach Makare is banking on his training program and on-court strategy to prepare his team for the challenges ahead.
“We haven’t tested ourselves with any other team from other countries, so we’re looking forward to this tournament because we will be able to know where we stand, and I will be able to know if I’m implementing the right strategy,” said Makare.
Makare knows that the five teams they’ll play at the Nations Cup are all composed in terms of playing internationally, adding that they’re ready to take on the challenge.
“We’re conditioning ourselves to a 1-hour game, every Saturday before we go to Singapore so that we’re ready for intensive games against other teams,” said Makare.
“We relooked at our defensive structures and discussed our roles and how it will affect other players when we don’t perform to expectations, this was the gap noticed in our scrimmage match against Suva Under 23.”
“We played against the Suva Under 23 team, and we noticed that our defensive structure worked when everyone knew what was happening and performed their role to what we expected, however, we noticed that there is a gap in our transition movements during defense (turnover and centre pass received), this will be looked at during our training run this week.”
The team will leave for Singapore on the 29th of November, the tournament will be held at Jurong East Sports Centre
