SINGAPORE - Newly-appointed national netball coach Natalie Milicich has not had the time to learn the names of all her charges yet but the New Zealander is eager to start tackling the challenges that lie ahead.

The 50-year-old, who arrived last Sunday and has led the team through two training sessions, noted that her immediate priority is to get to know the players better on and off the court, so that she can guide them to their short-term goal of finishing in the top two at the Dec 3-9 Nations Cup.

"The biggest thing for me is that we're very small in comparison to some of the more competitive countries, so one thing that's going to be important is we work on our fitness and skill level to make sure that we can be very competitive," Milicich told The Straits Times on Monday (Sept 18).

"But the first thing I've noticed is that we have very committed players who are very willing to give new things a go, so I like that they have interest and that they like to be taken out of their comfort zone."

In the long term, the former head coach and performance manager of New Zealand's Netball Central Zone team aims to lead Singapore to qualification for the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

The Republic, currently ranked 18th in the world, will host next September's Asian Championship. The top two finishers at this tournament will earn a ticket to the Netball World Cup.