Netball Diamonds chasing Sunshine ahead of Commonwealth Games

AUSTRALIA will look to its own talent for last minute preparations for the Commonwealth Games, avoiding all contact with rivals such as New Zealand and England ahead of the Gold Coast event.

Newly selected Diamonds (back L-R) Caitlin Bassett, Caitlin Thwaites, Jo Weston, April Brandley, (front L-R) Madi Robinson, Kim Ravaillion and Liz Watson.

AUSTRALIA will look to its own talent for last minute preparations for the Commonwealth Games, opting to avoid all contact with rivals such as New Zealand and England ahead of the Gold Coast event.

The Diamonds will play a series of matches against Super Netball teams in March to hone their game for their defence of the Commonwealth Games netball crown.

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Australian will first take on the West Coast fever in Canberra on March 15 and 16 before heading north for matches against Super netball champions Sunshine Coast Lightning and the Queensland Firebirds later in the month.

Steph Wood takes on the New Zealand defence in the recent Quad Series.

“Nothing is a substitute for high-intensity match play and we are fortunate to be able to test ourselves against three high-quality teams,” coach Lisa Alexander.

The Commonwealth Games 12 will also be joined by training partners Emily Mannix, Kate Moloney, Tegan Philip and Gretel Tippett for a final camp prior to the Games.

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Alexander has opted to remove her players from the spotlight on the Gold Coast with the team basing itself on the Sunshine Coast until April 1.

“We know that with a Commonwealth Games comes much excitement and being on home soil we will welcome further attention to our athletes,” Alexander said.

Members of the Diamonds after the recent Games team announcement.

“Hosting our staging camp on the Sunshine Coast will allow us to focus on our team first approach ensuring we are performance ready for the games.

“We will balance embracing our fans with focused training while on camp to ensure we are as well prepared as possible once we enter the bigger team environment of the Village, this will be an important stage in our process.’’

Australia’s first game of the Commonwealth Games is against Northern Ireland on April 5 with other matches against Barbados (April 6), South Africa (April 8), Fiji (April 9) and Jamaica (April 11).

Originally published as Netball Diamonds chasing Sunshine ahead of Commonwealth Games