Scotland poised: speed, spirit and ‘beast mode’ to face New Zealand

The Scottish Thistles are about to face one of their toughest challenges - the New Zealand Silver Ferns. Head coach Kath Tetley's vision is clear: although they are underdogs, ranked eight places below the Ferns, they’re here to make the Scots a side that others fear to face.

Credit: Netball Scotland

Ferns - “probably the most in form team in the world” 

There’s no mistaking the challenge that lies ahead. The Silver Ferns have just come off an intense period of competition against South Africa and Australia, and preparation isn’t just useful, it’s imperative.

“I would probably make myself very unpopular " said Tetley, "by saying that you can almost argue that they're probably the most in form team in the world at the moment. That last full game between Australia and New Zealand, New Zealand won. Then they played that sort of extra time game to determine the series so if you’re just looking at form, New Zealand is coming off seven test matches where they have really built across that South African series and then into the Aussie series.”

“I think that if you don't come prepared I actually think that's quite rude, so I feel like we have done a lot of preparation to make sure that we're being very respectful of the fact that they are second in the world in world rankings.”

“We’re really mindful that they might try a whole bunch of different things so for us it's actually being ready to adjust to whoever might come out next.”

That adaptability will be crucial not only in this series but as the Thistles continue to build towards the 2026 Commonwealth Games, as will a new mindset. Under Tetley, the Thistles have been steadily carving out a new brand of Scottish netball, one that balances trademark clean skill and sportsmanship with a fierce competitive edge.
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Beast mode

“Around the world people absolutely adore the Scots. They love that we play a really clean game of netball, we play it really skilfully,” Tetley explains. “Off the court it's great to be loved and respected and everyone likes hanging out with the Scots but the minute we cross that line it does need to be a little bit of ‘beware the beast’.”

It’s an identity that embraces both sides of the Scottish character: warmth yet grit, charm yet steel.

“I think the team is actually really committed to that and we talk about it really quite openly. We are really cool, lovely humans but on the court we do want people to worry a little bit that we're going to go a bit beast mode and so it's important that there's an element of real fear in playing us.”
 

That understanding of what ‘beast mode’ means for each player has become a defining part of Scotland’s culture.
 

“It is really okay to embrace who we are as people and we do a lot of work around just trying to understand each other so that we can actually bring out the beast for each other on court,” she says. “Understanding that some people's beast mode looks like this—it might be, you know, a bit of fiery talk or other people will do it with their physicality and how they attack ball—but understanding that is actually really important for us to all to know how we're switching on.”

Ones to Watch

The Thistles’ mix of youth and flair has given Tetley plenty to be excited about heading into this series, and believes viewers will be in for a treat.

“Cerys Finn is always someone fun to watch so she'll be in the defensive unit flying about she's just come off an absolutely brilliant tour with the U21s. She comes up with some pretty spectacular stuff. For aspiring goalkeepers or goal defences, she finds a really good balance of what she goes for and where she attacks the ball.”

In attack, the combination of Niamh McCall and Cerys Cairns is one to keep an eye on. “They both play in goal attack and they're just really clever… clever passes, look-aways, nice fakes - they're just so creative with the ball so I think those two in attack are pretty good fun.”

Speed and Aussie Influence

One of the most noticeable shifts in Scotland’s style under Tetley has been tempo. A self-professed Aussie coach with an eye for fast, attacking netball, she has worked to bring more speed into the Thistles’ play.

“I think we've been working really hard at our speed game and I think that's one of the observations that people made last year at Celtic Cup,” she says. “I know that what I bring sometimes is some of the Aussie styles and one of those was just we've actually got the incredibly quick humans so we're really lucky, we've got real speed people so adding ball speed to the physical speed of the people is really good.”

Against the Kiwis’ famed zonal defence, that pace will be critical. “One of the techniques around that is certainly making sure that you get ball and use it quickly and efficiently before potentially they have time to set up. So hopefully if we're doing our job you will walk away on Sunday going oh yes I saw that.”

As Scotland prepare to take on New Zealand, they’ll carry the pride of a nation and the growing belief that they can make even the world’s best pause and take notice.

Series details

Test 1: 4pm Sunday 9 November, PlaySport, East Kilbride (sold out)

Test 2: 7.30pm Tuesday 11 November, PlaySport, East Kilbride

Tickets for Test 2 available here

Broadcast: BBC Sport, BBC Iplayer, NetballPass