CAERLEON goal shooter Georgia Rowe and her Wales teammates have arrived in Tasmania and are set to step up their preparations for the Netball World Cup this week.

Trish Wilcox’s new-look Welsh side face three games in a week ahead of their tournament opener against Fiji in Sydney on August 7.

First-up on Friday is a match against the Australian Netball Centre of Excellence before Rowe and Co take on Scotland and local side Tassie Spirit.

Wales are ranked eighth going into the World Cup and the challenge ahead of Wilcox and her squad is the most exciting and challenging of their careers.

A top-two finish in their group, which also includes Uganda and Zambia, will see them move into the battle for a top-eight place against the best teams in the world.

“I’m very excited about taking this team into the Netball World Cup,” said Wilcox.

“They have worked so hard and done everything that has been asked of them. The best part will be seeing what we can achieve.

“Up until the time we left Heathrow Airport the majority of the girls had been working more, rather than less, in their day jobs to clear the way for the trip.

“We have to remember they all have full-time jobs and they have been under immense pressure.

“We’ve got a good build-up in Tasmania with three tough matches and the pre-tournament camp gives us the chance to take away any distractions.

“The games will allow us to put into practice what we have been doing in training.”

Born in Wales, Wilcox lived in New Zealand for two decades and became one of the most respected netball coaches in the country.

She was the national coach for the Cooks Islands in 2014 and led the Samoan under-21 team to their highest placing at the World Youth Championships before returning to Wales in November last year.

As head of elite performance at Welsh Netball she guided the Celtic Dragons through their Superleague season and then coached the Welsh team at Netball Europe.

Now she is taking the Welsh team into a global tournament with the chance of taking on the best teams in the world.

“It is a real privilege to be coaching Wales and it is great to be coaching a team going to the World Cup,” said Wilcox.

“We have made this tournament all about performance. Once you start thinking about numbers or targets you can lose focus, so it really will be a case of taking each game at a time and keeping everyone in the moment.

“I want to see these girls perform to their full potential and put everything they’ve got out on the court. I don’t want anyone to be leaving the World Cup with any regrets.”