Netball World Cup 2023: Ash Brazill reveals the England sledge that inspired their win

England should know better than to mock Aussies in defeat. It always come back to bite. Ash Brazill has revealed the stinging words from the Poms that inspired a World Cup win.

Diamonds veteran and retiring champion Ash Brazill has bowed out with one final dig at old foes England, revealing a sledge from Roses shooter Helen Housby inspired Australia’s World Cup final victory in Cape Town.

Fresh from claiming the Diamonds’ 12th World Cup title with a 16 goal (61-45) annihilation of England, Brazill revealed it was something the Swifts goaler said after last week’s pool match that had left Australia with a point to prove.

“To beat England like that, they beat us in the rounds. Everyone loved tagging us in what Helen said how they were fitter and how they are more energetic than us and that just got everything fighting,” Brazill said.

“We really wanted to beat Jamaica so we could play against these guys again.

“It was some of the best netball we’ve played in a long time.”

Ash Brazill of Australia celebrates winning during the Netball World Cup

Brazill will now retire from all forms of netball and focus on her AFLW career.

The 33-year-old said there was no better way to bow out. Than as a world champion.

“For that last 10 minutes I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!” she said.

“I’m just so proud of the girls.

“It’s taken all 12 of us to get here, the squad, the 22, all of us.

“The fact we’re standing here as world champions, I couldn’t ask for a better ending.

“I’m never playing netball against that’s for sure – how can I top this?

“To have my family in the crowd, they’ve ridden the highs and lows with me.

“All the injuries, the phone calls getting told you’re not in the Diamonds and to be standing here as a 33-year-old, a parent, living my dream of what I’ve wanted to do since I was five years old … it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Ash Brazill has now retired from all forms of netball

Housby wasn’t the only member of the England camp that had taken aim at the Diamonds.

England coach Jess Thirlby lit the fuse for a spicy decider after labelling the Diamonds a group of star individuals rather than a cohesive team following the Roses’ one-goal win in the preliminary stages.

But Australia showed the depth of its squad by running an entirely new shooting line-up in the second half and winning three of the four quarters to run away with the game.

Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin were injected into the match in place of regular shooters Cara Koenen and Steph Wood in the second quarter and grabbed their opportunity, 42 of the 61 goals between them and Austin winning MVP honours.

Austin had played 48 minutes of a possible 120 over the previous two games but Garbin, who was at one stage the tournament’s leading shooter, had not played a single minute since Australia’s penultimate round game against Malawi.

Coach Stacey Marinkovich praised her young shooters for being able to step up when the pressure was on.

“I think you just saw how deep our squad actually is as well,” she said.

“Over the two (finals) games we’ve had to use our entire group to win - to get to a grand final but to also win it.

Australia celebrate during the Netball World Cup Medal Presentation

“And to have 12 players step out and play their best netball, it wasn’t about superstars, it was about connection and cohesion and I thought they did a really good job of that.

“Credit to Sophie and Kiera, they’re young players, they’ve had big years in SSN (Super Netball) and ups and downs at different points.

“But to come on in a World Cup final and have to shoot and run and connect when they haven’t been out there for a couple of days, it just shows the character that they’ve got … and just the way they went into the game and went, okay, I’ll do my thing (was impressive).”

Captain Liz Watson, who again controlled the midcourt and the tempo of the Australian attack, agreed the pair was outstanding.

“It’s not a surprise to us because they do it all the time at training and we see it all the time but for them to come out there and do it on the biggest stage in their career was pretty special,” Watson said.

After finishing the last cycle without either of netball’s benchmark titles, the Diamonds now have the Commonwealth Games gold medal and World Cup safely in their keeping and hold every major trophy in the sport.