Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: We need to stop being gloomy about the Silver Ferns

Did it surprise anyone else to see how critical and gloomy everyone has been about the Silver Ferns?

All of the news stories I've read, and even some of the comments I've heard from the squad, have expressed disappointment that the team lost to Australia and didn't clinch the series 4-0. Which is fair. Obviously, it's disappointing to lose the game.

But isn't that missing the bigger picture?

The Silver Ferns won the series 3-1. They are now ranked number one in the world, a position they share with Australia. That's not bad. In fact, it's pretty good.

Just remember what this squad has been through in the past year or so.

There's been the stuff that played out publicly: the internal disputes with their coach and their coach's dispute with Netball HQ, all picked over in public while people formed opinions about who couldn't take the heat and who narked on Dame Noeline Taurua.

And then there's the private stuff each of them has been dealing with: not knowing whether they'd have a domestic competition to play in next year; many of them relocating to Australia at the start of this season, with all the stress that comes with finding somewhere to live and fitting into a new work environment; and now many of them preparing to do it all over again next season, complete with more uncertainty, stress and pay cuts.

Even now, they're still waiting to hear what next year will look like with the Mowbray competition.

That's a lot of extra drama for those women to deal with on the side and yet they've still won gold at the Commonwealth Games, still beaten Australia 3-1 in the Constellation Cup and still dragged themselves back to number one in the world.

Yes, they lost the last game and yes, the 10-goal  deficit was a little rough on them. But I think there's far more to celebrate here than there is to criticise.

Frankly, the Silver Ferns are one of the feelgood sporting comeback stories of the year.

Everyone just needs to cheer up.

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