THE 2025 edition of the Netball Nations Cup got underway over the weekend, which saw South Africa win both of its matches, England win one match and Malawi win one match.

For the English Roses at the moment, it is a time of discovery and of unearthing the future. When the team toured Australia and New Zealand last year, it was all about discovering potential midcourt options for the future as Lois Pearson and Jess Shaw got to show what they are made of.

This time around, it is about the shooters.

With usual first choice shooters Eleanor Cardwell and Helen Housby unable to play this series, and with Berri Neil unable to take to the court so far this series because of an undisclosed medical issue, this left the English coaches with some re-shuffling to do.

Their choice for goal shooter was obvious, with Olivia Tchine proving herself worthy of a starting spot in that tour to Australia and New Zealand last year.

That left one shooting spot to fill, and a choice between two potential debutants in Paige Reed and Emma Thacker.

In game one, Jess Thirlby and her coaches ultimately decided to go with Reed initially in that goal attack role to partner Tchine and she did not wait long to get involved, becoming the recipient of the inaugural first phase of the game. She really held her own in her debut, working well alongside Tchine and playing a pretty standard goal attack role, creating plenty of feeds in, as well as a strong connection point between mid and attack and also keeping up her share of the scoring.

Thacker meanwhile was not even meant to be in the squad for the series, but was a late inclusion after Pearson was a late withdrawal due to injury.  

In that opening match of the weekend against Malawi she only came on in the third quarter when Tchine went down with injury, and did not take to the court on Sunday against South Africa, so this gives off the perception that she is not really part of Thirlby’s plans moving forward, and was only there as a back up in case something happened to either Reed or Tchine.

Thacker can be a dangerous player in terms of her positioning and agility, but does not have the physical presence in the same way that Tchine and Reed do, despite being taller than both of them.

Although Thacker more regularly plays goal attack these days, she is perhaps more suited to the goal shooter role. She is a better player when she plays as the tall target as opposed to the one that is doing the connecting and feeding. Despite this, when she did come on against Malawi she came on as the goal attack, while the shorter Reed was pushed back to goal shooter, and Reed also has played next to no time in shooter in recent season.  

Although the whole side was outclassed by South Africa in the Roses’ second match of the weekend, game one has given the English coaching team a glimpse of potential options for the future. With the first choice shooting combination both now in their 30s, England cannot afford to not plan for the future, especially if they want to keep up with the best in the world. Reed may already be 27, but Thacker is only 21 and although she did not play over the weekend, Neil is almost 22.