Silver Ferns unveil World Cup dress

The Silver Ferns World Cup dress
Photo: Supplied: Netball NZ

The Silver Ferns Netball World Cup dress, Manawarau, has been unveiled for this month’s tournament in South Africa.

Coach Dame Noeline Taurua describes Manawarau as key to strengthening the identity of the team.

“We are not the same team as 2019, we are different and we need to be prepared to carry ourselves in our own space in our own unique way. Manawarau has helped us to do that,” Taurua said.

The team wore parts of the design on the inside of the dress during the Commonwealth Games last year.

“Manawarau helps us to conceptualise what performance is about – the good times, the tough times, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” she said.

The two Māori artists who created Manawarau have their own strong connections to the Silver Ferns and grew up surrounded by netball in Aotearoa.

Maia Gibbs and Henare Brooking, respected tā moko artists from Te Tairāwhiti (East Coast), were invited by the Ferns to create a dress design for their Netball World Cup campaign.

Brooking (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is the nephew of Netball New Zealand President Tina Karaitiana.

And Gibbs (Ngāti Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Kahungunu) is the son of Leigh Gibbs,who played in three Netball World Cups, including captaining the Silver Ferns to victory in 1987. Gibbs also coached the side at the 1995 world tournament and was the assistant coach when they claimed the title again in 2003.

Gibbs and Brooking also designed a jersey for the New Zealand Warriors, which they wore in their NRL indigenous round match last year.

Dame Noeline Taurua.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Within the design name, ‘Manawa’ represents the heartbeats of Silver Ferns players of the past, present and future, beating in unison.

“It’s an acknowledgement of Silver Ferns who have passed on, like Margaret Forsyth,” said Gibbs.

“And the current team expressing themselves to make their mark on this stage – and what they can do to leave it in a better place for the next generation.”

‘Rau’ is the multitudes – “Not only those who’ve worn the dress, but all those who sit behind every player.” Rau is also a fern frond.

Around the skirt of the dress runs the tāniko weaving pattern Aramoana – which represents the pathway to the sea, symbolising the players’ wider connections, to family, culture and nature.

The sharp angles of the Niho Taniwha pattern reflect the style of netball played in New Zealand – agile, dynamic and explosive.

“The shark’s teeth represent the rows and rows of Silver Ferns past and present, the strength of our collective,” said player Sulu Fitzpatrick.

A continuous red thread runs through the design, signifying “a human rope” – representing a line of whakapapa.

Down the spine run five small Pātiki (diamond-shaped designs symbolising “the womb, and the power and strength of women”) – one for each of the Silver Ferns teams who have won the Netball World Cup in the past.

-RNZ