Diamonds get revenge and win Australia’s 1000th gold medal

The ghosts of the Gold Coast have been banished as the Diamonds put four years of hurt to rest with a stirring win over Jamaica in the gold medal game at the Commonwealth Games netball tournament.

In front of a hostile crowd that often booed their highlights and cheered their errors, Gretel Bueta poured in a perfect 37 from 37 and captain Liz Watson was inspirational as they held off the Sunshine Girls 55-51. It would be a slice of history, with their medal Australia’s 1000th Commonwealth Games gold since its inception in 1930.

Australian players celebrate their gold medal win.Credit: Getty

Jamaica had stunned the Diamonds earlier in the tournament and coach Stacey Marinkovich came under some pressure for her tactics. She responded with a masterstroke in the second quarter just as Jamaica started to flex their muscle, subbing Steph Wood and Jo Weston for Sarah Klau and Cara Koenen.

The extra tall gave the Diamonds another vital option in the circle and Koenen duly added 15-15 after being sent into the fray. Her presence completely changed the dynamic in attack as Bueta shifted from goal shooter to goal attack and helped open up the options.

Klau was a welcome bigger body on the largely unstoppable Jhaniele Fowler (46-47) but the overall disruption to Jamaica’s play was evident. Even so, the Sunshine Girls pressed until the end and managed to score in bunches to give the Diamonds a real fright at stages of the contest.

Gretel Bueta.Credit: Getty

“Absolutely. We were still ranked number one in the world but didn’t necessarily feel like that, we lost that at the World Cup at well. We just wanted to really show that we are the world’s best, we work hard and play with passion. I think we showed that,” said Diamonds captain Liz Watson, who along with Weston, Wood and Courtney Bruce were the only players involved in the 2018 gold medal loss to England.

Watson also paid tribute to Bueta, who has been enormous for the Diamonds in England. She was beaming with pride as she walked through the mixed zone with baby son Bobby, who she was reunited with after being in a COVID-19 bubble for six weeks.

“She is unbelievable. She has been unbelievable this whole time. She is just one of the world’s best shooters but she’s a great person and deserved this as much as anyone.”

Australia had a 14-12 lead after a quarter but Jamaica roared back to take a 19-17 lead, with the Diamonds in a mini-slump and starting to turn the ball over mid-court. Weston and Wood made way, Klau and Koenen given their cue and the Diamonds were back in business.

It was 29-29 at halftime but the third quarter belonged to the green and gold, who helped themselves to the first seven goals and established what would turn out to be a winning lead.

That margin remained six heading into the final quarter and while Jamaica found themselves back within three, this time the Diamonds refused to blink. They embraced with unbridled joy as fulltime sounded to take their place back on top of the netball world.