Samoa finished sixth at the netball Pacific Nations Cup held over three days in Auckland this week, but are taking the positives out of some much needed game time ahead of the Pacific Games in July.

The players that headed over for the campaign are now having trials from which the squad for the Games will be selected

Netball Samoa chief executive officer Rosemarie Esera said it wasn't the result they wanted but the gains from the Pacific Nations Cup were enormous.

"Providing to our players the intensity of the game, the importance of fitness, strength and conditioning, court awareness and application of skills.

"Overall we are more aware of the level of competition expected at the Pacific Games, areas to improve on and perfecting our strengths that were identified."

She said one of the biggest challenges for Netball Samoa is getting the financial support to compete in major tournaments outside of the World Cup.

"To gain the experience and allow our players to be current with how the game is evolving, the speed of the ball down the court.

"We will continue to work hard in providing access to these tournaments for our teams at all rep levels, so that we continue to improve our world ranking."

She said Netball Samoa's participation in tournaments like the Pacific Nations Cup is self-funded, and dependent on their sponsors like major sponsor Invest Samoa, Samoa Commercial Bank, Sign Studios, Samoa Stationery and Books, BlueSky, TV3 and Pacific Forum Line.

Pacific Nations Cup final standings:

1. Aotearoa Maori
2. Cook Islands
3. Stars of the Southern Cross
4. Tonga
5. New Zealand Defence Force
6. Samoa