Netball news 2024: Diamonds reject Roses bait, say England under pressure in series decider
The Diamonds have hit back at the Roses’ suggestion that they’re under pressure heading into Wednesday night’s deciding match against England, despite a loss would handing them their first series loss in years.
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The Diamonds have responded to England’s assertion they bear all the pressure heading into Wednesday night’s deciding Test in Bendigo by challenging the Roses to repeat their game two performance with the series on the line.
Australian vice-captain Paige Hadley said the Diamonds had not met their own high standards in the tight game two loss in Sydney on Sunday, going away from the structures that had propelled them to a 13-goal win in the series opener as a young and fearless England side tightened the screws.
Hadley acknowledged England’s improved game two showing.
But she said the Diamonds were relishing the chance to perform under pressure.
“We don’t want to lose the series,” Hadley said.
“We’re competitive people. And I think the pressure for us comes from within.
“We want to be better. We have structures, we have game plans, we have values that we hold really high.
“If you look at (Sunday’s) game, yes, we thought they played very well, and they did their homework, but we went away from what we do best.
“That’s not good enough from our own standards.”
The Diamonds have lost just one series since Stacey Marinkovich took over as coach and that was her first one in charge, during which both Australia and the Silver Ferns competed over four games in lockdown in Christchurch.
Since then, the Aussies have found a way to get over the line when the pressure is on, responding to every challenge, through regular domestic and international series, to the game’s benchmark competitions, bouncing back from defeat in the rounds to win Commonwealth Games gold and a World Cup.
As the underdogs following their first Test win, England had no pressure in game two, Hadley said.
“Absolutely, they were playing with no fear. They obviously got beaten by bit in the first game and they thought, we’ll see what we can do here,” she said.
“But the pressure is on them now. They’ve had that game, those young ones have had that 60 minutes under their belt, they produced that performance.
“For us, if you produce that performance, you want to repeat it and again and again and again. It’s not just a one off thing.”
And while Hadley believes the pressure is on England, she said the Diamonds’ focus was firmly on themselves.
“We want to keep growing - there’s no end point for us,” she said.
“Yes, it’s a four year cycle, but every game, every series, for us, is about growing as a group.
“That’s what we did last cycle. Stacey (coach Stacey Marinkovich) really brought that growth in and we had those two pinnacle events and we peaked at the right time.
“And that’s what we want to do here. Yes, want to win the series, but we also want to develop and build and be continually building both our playing group and our style of netball.”
Hadley has been a key part of the Diamonds’ success over that period and she’s looking forward to jumping back into the fire after sitting out three-quarters of Sunday’s clash before being injected in the final few minutes.
“Obviously (I was) sad I couldn’t get out there in front of my Sydney family and play,” the Swifts co-captain said.
“But every time I’m out there wearing that dress on the court, off the court, I don’t take it for granted.”
At 32, there could be question marks over whether Hadley will still be at her best by the time the next World Cup is played in Sydney in 2027.
But having fought so hard to become a regular Diamond, she’s not about to let the opportunity slip easily.
“Any opportunity Stacey gives me in that bib, I’m ready and raring to go and do whatever I need to do,” she said.
“I think it’s just a blessing. Yes, people can say it’s a four-year cycle and it’s all about the young ones.
“And, yes, it is all about that. And we want to develop them for when the time’s ready.
“But playing for Australia is not just given easy, it’s a lot of hard work, it’s whoever’s performing at that time and I’m grateful for every time I get that bib, because it’s an unreal opportunity.”
‘Pressure on Australia’: Roses’ mind games ahead of decider
She’s long been a beacon for bold England performances but Helen Housby has been joined by a new wave of fearless players who are ready to tackle the Diamonds without trepidation in the series decider on Wednesday night.
Housby, who took the decisive shot to power England to Commonwealth Games gold over the Diamonds on the Gold Coast in 2018 and was player of the tournament at last year’s World Cup, thrives in the big moment.
But a generation of players led by the likes of Lois Pearson, who made her international debut in the first Test, shooter Liv Tchine and defender Funmi Fadoju showed the Roses are not content to sit back and wait for success.
Housby said all the pressure was on the Diamonds heading into the third Test in Bendigo.
“It’s always tough against the Aussies and they will not want to be beaten again, and they will not want to lose the series,” Housby said.
“But we’ve got nothing to lose. I don’t I think there’s any pressure on us, the pressure is on Australia, and I’m excited and the rest of the girls are.”
After losing the opening match of the series by 13 goals, it was easy to think the Roses would fold again in game two.
But England rallied and its young stars, who are unscarred by previous tour losses in Australia, were huge contributors in the 61-59 series leveller on Sunday.
“It does feel like a little bit of a different era for England,” Housby said.
“England in the past, especially when I came into it and even before that, it wasn’t uncommon for Aussie and New Zealand to be beating us by 20 or 30 goals.
“You might get close and it was a really good day if you got close.
“I think now it’s expected that we’re going to be close and these girls that are coming in are expecting to win.
“It’s just been really refreshing to have these girls come in with no fear.”
The likes of Pearson, in just her second game, Tchine and Fadoju stood up and helped England to just its third win against the Diamonds in Australia, and first in Sydney in more than 40 years.
“Once they had that first game under their belt and knew they could match the physicality speed, they just needed to adjust,” Housby said.
“It was great to see them make those make those adjustments and come back out in game two with loads of confidence.”
England has long been one of netball’s major players.
However, its major triumphs, such as the 2018 Commonwealth Games win and last year’s World Cup grand final appearance, have come in fits and spurts.
The Roses could not establish themselves as regular contenders.
After the retirement of big names such as Geva Mentor following the World Cup and the unavailability through injury of the likes of Nat Metcalf and Eleanor Cardwell – names all familiar to Aussie fans through their premiership-winning Super Netball performances – Jess Thirlby’s young squad was thought to be more of a work in progress than series contender.
However, the Roses have showed they are not content to just wait.
“The more times that you can experience the feeling of a goal-for-goal game or a close game, the better equipped you’re going to be when a (major) final eventually rocks up,” Housby said.
“It’s a lot easier to win those games if you have prior experience in lesser tournaments and series such as this.
“For our young squads, every single game that we get between now and the next big comp is vital … and any chance that they get against Australia, we need to treat it as if it’s a final because I think it is just as important.”
The Roses head across the Tasman for a series against the Silver Ferns after the match on Wednesday.
While their minds are firmly on Australia for now, Housby wants the Roses’ ability to challenge the top two teams in the world to be a given.
“It’s just a good thing for World netball,” she said.
“It’s boring when it’s only Australia and New Zealand competing (in major finals), so I think it’s nice for us to change the narrative a little bit and not be afraid of Australia, and not be afraid of New Zealand and expect to be going up against them, having close matches and winning.”
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Originally published as Netball news 2024: Diamonds reject Roses bait, say England under pressure in series decider
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