The Silver Ferns are thankful for last week's pre-World Cup hit outs against the New Zealand men's invitational side, despite twice ending up on the losing side.
As the Silver Ferns depart for the World Cup in England this afternoon, captain Laura Langman took time to thank the men's invitational side, who they played twice as part of the Cadbury Netball series last week.
"It was really special," Langman said.
"First and foremost, I really enjoyed the product that they put out there. They do a lot of work that no one ever sees, and it was nice to be able to celebrate that with them.
"On a personal Ferns note, I loved how we were pushed to the limit and able to back up. No, the scores didn't reflect that, but I think that what we put out there as a team was closer than what we're after versus what we have been doing in the past.
"It was a great opportunity to test our processes against a style of play that can change at any moment. The men can decide just to open up whenever they like, so our ability to adapt to that was tested. I thought that was another clear objective that we were able to achieve, or put a lot of work towards."
Shooter Ameliranne Ekenasio echoed her skipper's sentiments, thanking the men's side for the contest.
"Some of the bruises have gone down, but the bruises still feel like they're there, they were pretty rough games.
"The amount of respect we have for those guys after playing them on court is pretty huge.
"We are hugely thankful, we couldn't have asked for better games - better prep going into the World Cup."
The Netball World Cup begins on July 12 NZT.
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