The head of the review into the Silver Ferns' failed Commonwealth Games campaign is optimistic about the national netball team's long-term future

Don Mackinnon, along with Kevin Shoebridge and Linda Vagana, have found a number of factors led to the Ferns' inability to win a medal on the Gold Coast, some of which the panel believes Netball New Zealand should have identified.

Mackinnon says they were impressed by the younger players during the course of the review.

He says they were really honest about their performances and that's given the panel room for optimism.