The Silver Ferns ramp up their Commonwealth Games preparations a notch when they take on England, South Africa and Australia in the northern swing of netball's Quad Series next week.
The Ferns departed for England on Friday for a testing schedule which will see them play matches in London and Johannesburg.
New Zealand will face world no 3 England at the Copper Box in London on January 20, then meet fifth-ranked South Africa at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg five days later - then a date against Australia at the same venue on January 28.
Captain Katrina Grant knows her troops must make a statement in their opening clash against England, if they are to have a chance of winning the series.
"England have come a long way since we played them in January last year so they are going to be a tough side to come up against," she said.
"They have been in camp for two weeks so we really need to get to England and get training right away and get our combos going and knowing that first game will be very tough."
The Silver Ferns won the southern hemisphere leg of the Quad Series last September, beating South Africa 63-56 and Australia 57-47 but losing 49-45 to England.
Grant is hopeful that they can go undefeated on the northern leg of the series.
"We want to win all three games. We have taken 14 players so training is going to be very competitive which is exactly what we need.
"We are all pushing each other and whoever trains the best will be chosen for the games.
"We had a December camp, which was good for all of us."
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