Diamonds faced with a rebuilding job before Constellation Cup

Australia coach Lisa Alexander faces a testing month trying to repair confidence in the Diamonds.

Diamonds head coach Lisa Alexander. Picture: Michael Klein

Australia’s domestic rules may have played a part in the Diamonds’ crushing Quad Series loss to the Silver Ferns in Invercargill on Sunday, says coach Lisa Alexander.

Australia were jumped in the first quarter and quickly found themselves down eight goals. In a Super Netball match, it would have been the perfect time to call for a timeout and attempt to kill the attacking side’s momentum. But timeouts aren’t permitted in international netball.

“I know that (New Zealand’s) ANZ Premiership plays under international rules, whereas in Super Netball we didn’t,” Alexander told The Australian.

“We could have done with one on Sunday in that first quarter. Maybe there’s something in that. We have to learn how to generate that change in momentum ourselves.”

The Silver Ferns never looked back, riding a suffocating defence to an emphatic 57-47 win that handed the Kiwis the Quad Series trophy. Defeat for the Diamonds broke a streak of seven straight wins.

Alexander did not spare her players, saying the Diamonds had been “on notice” after patchy performances against England and South Africa and they were simply not prepared for a hungrier New Zealand.

She reserved the strongest comments for her leadership team of Caitlin Bassett, Gabi Simpson and Madi Robinson who, she said, “know that they didn’t put their best performances out there”.

Alexander also hit out at fans critical of the decision to exclude veteran goal attack Nat Medhurst from the squad.

“It’s not necessarily helpful to be thinking about that at this stage. We made our decision, we made it in good faith,” she said.

“It’s pretty disrespectful to the two players that were out there putting their bodies on the line and having done all the training and preparation.”

The Diamonds now have a month to prepare for a four-match Constellation Cup series against the Silver Ferns that the team has circled as their benchmark for the year.

They’ll be looking for more cohesion on court after a series of disjointed performances in the Quad Series. Alexander rotated players heavily through the three matches, testing combinations and trying to prepare her players for a more dynamic approach.

The approach drew criticism after the match from Nine commentator and former Diamond Catherine Cox.