Netball: Diamonds shine in ruthless win against the Roses
Australia showed the ruthlessness that has propelled them to the top of world netball with a 70-57 win the first Test against England, as another new Diamond was awarded her debut.
The biggest roar of the night may have come for a player who wasn’t even in the match-day squad but the Diamonds showed the ruthlessness that has propelled them to the top of world netball with a 70-57 win the first Test against England.
Crowd favourite Georgie Horjus sent the Adelaide Entertainment Centre crowd into a frenzy when she appeared on the big screen in the final quarter but coach Stacey Marinkovich showed she was not in the business of handing out gold dresses when she failed to include the South Australian product and potential debutant in her match-day 12.
It may have been a new cycle but Australian caps are not handed out cheaply and every member of the starting seven was a player who held a significant role in last year’s World Cup campaign.
It gave the Diamonds not just a strong and experienced team but established combinations that were able to quickly gain dominance over their rivals.
Defenders Sunday Aryang and player of the match Sarah Klau were outstanding, with Klau only coming off the court five minutes from the end of the match after tweaking her ankle in a clash with NSW Swifts clubmate and Roses shooter Helen Housby.
It handed Melbourne Vixens defender Rudi Ellis her debut, the goalkeeper becoming Diamond no.192 in what just a month ago seemed the most unlikely of debuts.
Although the Roses fought back at the start of the final term to get within five goals, they were never really in the match, failing to get clean ball into their shooters for most of the match, with player of last year’s World Cup, Helen Housby unable to work her magic.
ELLIS A NEW DIAMOND
It’s arguably the most famous name in Australian netball and an Ellis is once again wearing the gold dress in the defensive circle and making life a nightmare for opposition shooters.
This time though, it’s Rudi Ellis, the Melbourne Vixens goalkeeper who just a month ago, was not even a member of the wider Diamonds squad.
But the 27-year-old has made the most of every opportunity that has come her way after being invited into camp by coach Stacey Marinkovich following a breakout Super Netball season and forced her way into the match-day 12 over another potential debutant - Sunshine Coast
Lightning tall Ash Ervin - after a stellar showing in camp last week.
The dominance of Klau, who took on a senior role in the defensive unit in the absence of Courtney Bruce and Jo Weston, made it look likely that Ellis would ride the pine on Thursday night but she took the court five minutes from the end of the match and did not look at all out of place against Roses young gun Liv Tchine.
HOUSBY CARRIES ROSES
Helen Housby is without doubt one of the best players in world netball but not even she could get the Roses over the line against a dominant Diamonds side.
The Swifts goaler played with three other shooters on Thursday night, with Eleanor Cardwell, debutant Lois Pearson and Liv Tchine all getting their chance but it was the players in front of them - the England midcourters, that let them down much of the time, failing to get clean, quick ball into the circle and putting their shooters under pressure.
When they did get the ball though, England shot at an incredible clip, finishing with a 98 per cent conversion rate and Housby making an incredible 26-of-26 shots as well as 14 goal assists and 14 feeds.
And she was positive about the Roses’ chances of turning things around in two days’ time in Sydney.
Certainly coach Jess Thirlby’s mass changes at halftime put more pressure on the Diamonds, with England winning the third term and looking as though they could mount a charge in the fourth before falling away.
WHERE TO NEXT?
The Diamonds established their dominance and gained a handy series lead with their Adelaide win.
The next step for coach Marinkovich should be to get some of her more inexperienced players on to the court to get international minutes into their legs.
The next benchmark tournament is not until the Commonwealth Games in 2026 but blooding the likes of Ervin and Horjus and getting more minutes from Tilly Garrett - who was injected in the third quarter in defence - and Amy Parmenter, will be crucial in the future.
Shooters Cara Koenen - the first choice shooter for much of the past two years, and Sophie Dwyer did not hit the court at all on Thursday night and Koenen in particular, can be expected to play more of a leading role in the next two Tests.
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