Netball: World champion Australia Diamonds eye end to 1327-day win drought in New Zealand
Australia has won every major trophy available in world netball. But, when the Diamonds take the court in Wellington, they’re chasing their first win in New Zealand in 1327 days.
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There is not a major trophy in world netball that is not in the hands of the Australian Diamonds.
But on Sunday, the Diamonds take to the court in Wellington, searching for their first win against the Silver Ferns in New Zealand in 1327 days.
It’s the longest drought in coach Stacey Marinkovich’s tenure as coach, stretching back to her second game in charge of the Diamonds.
Australia lost the Constellation Cup for just the second time in 2021 when they conceded the series 3-1 in a Covid-affected series played in a hub in Christchurch where spectators were only allowed access for the final clash.
The Diamonds won the second match of that series - Liz Watson’s first as skipper of the side - and while they regained the Cup the following year and retained it again in 2023, both series were taken on goal aggregates with the series split 2-2 as each side claimed the games in their own country.
It’s a record the Diamonds are desperate to rectify, starting in Wellington on Sunday when they take on a Kiwi side that slipped to No.3 in the world rankings this week on the back of a series loss to England.
Regardless of where each team sits on the rankings, the players available or their recent results, the Constellation Cup remains one of the most fiercely fought series in world netball - and Marinkovich expects nothing different this time around.
“That’s something that we’ve spoken quite passionately about within the group is that previous performances and world rankings and all that goes out the door when you come up against this particular rivalry and the special nature of it,” she said.
“I think that’s what I think we value in it so much. You’ve got such two distinctive styles of play coming up against each other, and it’s been a well recognised battle - not only across netball, but I think across international sport in general.
“So everyone holds their home grounds strong and we’re certainly wanting to go over there and shake that up a bit.”
As opposed to tournament netball, where the Diamonds and Ferns will meet only once, usually at the pointy end of the tournament - or not at all, as was the case at last year’s World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games - the Constellation Cup provides the chance for teams to prepare for each other’s specific style and forensically examine each performance, making adjustments ahead of the next match.
“We’ve always started strongly against New Zealand and I think then they adapt and get familiar with the way that we’ve been playing, and vice versa and it’s about who can get used to each other’s way of playing, but then also not detour from the way in which you want to go out there and really produce your brand out on court,” Marinkovich said.
“And there’s no doubt there’s atmosphere around the game.
“When you’re over in New Zealand, when things aren’t going your way you can feel that deathly sort of silence - and you’ve got to be able to create your own energy from within.
“You can definitely feel the momentum shifts when you’re in each other’s country because of the passion and how one-sided the crowds actually are for their respective teams.”
Without the momentum-breaking timeouts available in Super Netball, the Diamonds have to be able to react quickly on court, while not reacting to perceived pressure - the mini-swings in momentum that occur when they still hold the match lead but can have a multiplying effect if players cannot quickly shrug off errors or bounce back when things don’t go their way.
It’s something they have been able to do at home and in neutral countries, with their last match against the Ferns, at the Netball Nations Cup in London in January, resulting in a 13-goal victory to the Diamonds.
Australia may have more than a million active netball participants but New Zealand remains the game’s fanatical cauldron and Marinkovich and the Diamonds want to embrace the difficulty of playing there.
“You’ve got to go towards that challenge and thrive in it (to) be able to create the energy, be able to break momentum in key moments and be able to put your foot down when you really need to.”
The Diamonds take on the Silver Ferns at Wellington’s TSB Arena on Sunday from 5.30pm AEDT. All four Tests of the Constellation Cup will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Sports and available on Kayo Freebies.
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Originally published as Netball: World champion Australia Diamonds eye end to 1327-day win drought in New Zealand
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