September 26, 2025 • 6 mins
Despite the off-court drama that surrounds the game, New Zealand’s netball teams continue to shine on the courts.
The Under 21 team is through to the World Cup final after a closely fought win over England, succeeding 51-49.
Lesley Murdoch caught up with head coach Julie Seymour as soon as the teams came off the court.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Festival. Coming to a World View Cup on the other
side of the world is quite an experience the team
having not you know, experienced being this far away from
home and unfamiliar environment, playing against opposition that play totally
different styles to us, and having to back up day
utter day quite quickly, like you're playing one style one
day and another style another day. So that's wonderful development
(00:20):
for our young players. We've just finished playing England in
our semi final, and I feel like we got the
upper hand early and got a lead by about five,
and then across the game, we'd push it out to eight,
and then they'd kind of pull it back to five,
and then we'd push it back out to eight. So
its very much we were always in the lead and
we'd get you know, a bit more of a gap,
(00:40):
but then they always came back harder us. So I
think that's a really good learning for us as a team,
is just being able to not let a team come
back at us like that, just being able to keep
pushing on and keep pushing on and just free, really focused.
And you know, these are young athletes playing under probably
the most precious game they've played in their life. You know,
any of them haven't played in really intense finals. Apart
(01:03):
from perhaps Stack at school. The young athletes that maybe
in the A and Z teams, apart from Amelia Warmly,
don't get a huge amount of court time at that level,
but they are training a lot of them in that environment,
those A and Z teams playing amongst silver Fern, you know,
being coached by our A Z coaches. So yeah, I'm
very thankful for all the people that have contributed to
(01:24):
get these young athletes to where they are today.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
It just remind us what happened in that last quarter.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, well in the last it's a bit of a blur, actually, Leslie,
I feel like my heart's still racing a little bit.
And the game finished aroun an hour ago, so I
think we got out to about probably ten at some stage,
and then they might have pulled it back to eight.
And then with about five minutes ago, the scoreboard decided
to go blank and suddenly there was no score on
(01:50):
the scoreboard, and there was no time on the score
board as well, So I think that just probably threw
us a little bit, and then they got on a
I think within a short space of time we missed
a goal, We did a step and we did a
silly pass and so of course they scored their own
and scored our one, so there was suddenly six goals
(02:10):
that they got back and came back within two and
then we just managed to hold on to the end.
So yeah, like I said, I was really proud of
the girls. I think fifty five minutes we played a
really good game of netball. I felt like we were
on top. They had to pass it around a lot
to get goals. We got a lot of ball off them.
(02:31):
But I think, yeah, for these young athletes, just finishing
it off when you get a lead, and certainly the
last five minutes a game would be nice to play
right until ends.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And during the course of this Youth World Cup, have
you been able to give all your players game time
or tell us who was in your semi final lineup?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, so definitely we have everyone who's got almost similar
court time across our pool matches and even in our
court final match yesterday against Malawi, which once again was
an amazing experience for the girls to play against a
team like Malawi that are just so different. So we
play and then in today's game, we had Amelia Warmsley,
(03:15):
we had Sarah Gurney. We had Serena do a comer comer.
We had Priyana Day in the middle. We had Kaya
Keeper at wing defense. We had Kanye Monroe Lee at
gold defense, and Charlotte Manley at goalkeep. And I actually
didn't make a change in the game. Like I said,
we were always in the upper hand and I just
(03:37):
felt like those players were doing a good, solid job
on court. They were in the heat of the battle,
and sometimes as a coach you just kind of want
to leave the team out that you know is doing
the job for you right then and there. But as
I said to the girls afterwards, like the difference between
these players is so minimal, and I'm sure in the
(03:57):
final we'll see that I might have to make changes,
and yeah, I'd be more than happy to put any
of these players on. But I think just in that game,
the way it was played out, I just we just
felt as coaches we were just going to stick with
that same line and they came through.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It looks as though you are playing Australia.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Yep, we will be. They're just they're up by quite
a lot at halftime. It's halftime in the second semi
between Australia and South Africa, and I think they're almost
twenty goals ahead, not quite twenty goals ahead at halftime.
So yeah, we'll be playing our friends Australia, not tomorrow
but the next day. So we've got a day to recover,
(04:35):
get our game plan all sorted and then we're playing
here Sunday night, so I guess over there, it'll be Monday,
early hours of Monday morning in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Can you beat them?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Absolutely? That's the joy of sport is there on any
given day, you know any team can get it. And
Australia are a great team. We've seen them. They're exactly
what you would expect of Australia. They're fast, their physical,
they're almost programmed to run, run and run and run.
(05:07):
But yeah, I back up to beat them. It's going
to be tough though.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I guess over there, you haven't been able to
see any of the Silver Ferns playing South Africa.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
We've seen little bit some pieces. Unfortunately the games have
often tied and with us either having a training or
meetings or leaving to our games, so we have seen
some pieces. But you know, the information we're receiving is
we're obviously really thrilled that they're you know, doing a
fantastic job and they've got the two ones so far,
(05:39):
and yeah, we wish them well for their their last
game against South Africa.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Absolutely, yes, fantastic. I've been playing very very good Kntbull.
I've loved the rotations on court as well. But look,
we'll let you go and celebrate getting to the final.
Excited for you and your team and your management group
and wish you all the best and safe travels back.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Thank you, Thanks so Mcchually, we've certainly been feeling the
love and support from home, you know, which has been fantastic.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
For more from News Talks at b listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
Festival. Coming to a World View Cup on the other
side of the world is quite an experience the team
having not you know, experienced being this far away from
home and unfamiliar environment, playing against opposition that play totally
different styles to us, and having to back up day
utter day quite quickly, like you're playing one style one
day and another style another day. So that's wonderful development
(00:20):
for our young players. We've just finished playing England in
our semi final, and I feel like we got the
upper hand early and got a lead by about five,
and then across the game, we'd push it out to eight,
and then they'd kind of pull it back to five,
and then we'd push it back out to eight. So
its very much we were always in the lead and
we'd get you know, a bit more of a gap,
(00:40):
but then they always came back harder us. So I
think that's a really good learning for us as a team,
is just being able to not let a team come
back at us like that, just being able to keep
pushing on and keep pushing on and just free, really focused.
And you know, these are young athletes playing under probably
the most precious game they've played in their life. You know,
any of them haven't played in really intense finals. Apart
(01:03):
from perhaps Stack at school. The young athletes that maybe
in the A and Z teams, apart from Amelia Warmly,
don't get a huge amount of court time at that level,
but they are training a lot of them in that environment,
those A and Z teams playing amongst silver Fern, you know,
being coached by our A Z coaches. So yeah, I'm
very thankful for all the people that have contributed to
(01:24):
get these young athletes to where they are today.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
It just remind us what happened in that last quarter.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, well in the last it's a bit of a blur, actually, Leslie,
I feel like my heart's still racing a little bit.
And the game finished aroun an hour ago, so I
think we got out to about probably ten at some stage,
and then they might have pulled it back to eight.
And then with about five minutes ago, the scoreboard decided
to go blank and suddenly there was no score on
(01:50):
the scoreboard, and there was no time on the score
board as well, So I think that just probably threw
us a little bit, and then they got on a
I think within a short space of time we missed
a goal, We did a step and we did a
silly pass and so of course they scored their own
and scored our one, so there was suddenly six goals
(02:10):
that they got back and came back within two and
then we just managed to hold on to the end.
So yeah, like I said, I was really proud of
the girls. I think fifty five minutes we played a
really good game of netball. I felt like we were
on top. They had to pass it around a lot
to get goals. We got a lot of ball off them.
(02:31):
But I think, yeah, for these young athletes, just finishing
it off when you get a lead, and certainly the
last five minutes a game would be nice to play
right until ends.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
And during the course of this Youth World Cup, have
you been able to give all your players game time
or tell us who was in your semi final lineup?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, so definitely we have everyone who's got almost similar
court time across our pool matches and even in our
court final match yesterday against Malawi, which once again was
an amazing experience for the girls to play against a
team like Malawi that are just so different. So we
play and then in today's game, we had Amelia Warmsley,
(03:15):
we had Sarah Gurney. We had Serena do a comer comer.
We had Priyana Day in the middle. We had Kaya
Keeper at wing defense. We had Kanye Monroe Lee at
gold defense, and Charlotte Manley at goalkeep. And I actually
didn't make a change in the game. Like I said,
we were always in the upper hand and I just
(03:37):
felt like those players were doing a good, solid job
on court. They were in the heat of the battle,
and sometimes as a coach you just kind of want
to leave the team out that you know is doing
the job for you right then and there. But as
I said to the girls afterwards, like the difference between
these players is so minimal, and I'm sure in the
(03:57):
final we'll see that I might have to make changes,
and yeah, I'd be more than happy to put any
of these players on. But I think just in that game,
the way it was played out, I just we just
felt as coaches we were just going to stick with
that same line and they came through.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It looks as though you are playing Australia.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Yep, we will be. They're just they're up by quite
a lot at halftime. It's halftime in the second semi
between Australia and South Africa, and I think they're almost
twenty goals ahead, not quite twenty goals ahead at halftime.
So yeah, we'll be playing our friends Australia, not tomorrow
but the next day. So we've got a day to recover,
(04:35):
get our game plan all sorted and then we're playing
here Sunday night, so I guess over there, it'll be Monday,
early hours of Monday morning in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Can you beat them?
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Absolutely? That's the joy of sport is there on any
given day, you know any team can get it. And
Australia are a great team. We've seen them. They're exactly
what you would expect of Australia. They're fast, their physical,
they're almost programmed to run, run and run and run.
(05:07):
But yeah, I back up to beat them. It's going
to be tough though.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I guess over there, you haven't been able to
see any of the Silver Ferns playing South Africa.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
We've seen little bit some pieces. Unfortunately the games have
often tied and with us either having a training or
meetings or leaving to our games, so we have seen
some pieces. But you know, the information we're receiving is
we're obviously really thrilled that they're you know, doing a
fantastic job and they've got the two ones so far,
(05:39):
and yeah, we wish them well for their their last
game against South Africa.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Absolutely, yes, fantastic. I've been playing very very good Kntbull.
I've loved the rotations on court as well. But look,
we'll let you go and celebrate getting to the final.
Excited for you and your team and your management group
and wish you all the best and safe travels back.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Thank you, Thanks so Mcchually, we've certainly been feeling the
love and support from home, you know, which has been fantastic.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
For more from News Talks at b listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
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