Insight: Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich talks challenge of winning in New Zealand
The Diamonds hold every major trophy in netball, but there remains one final box to check for Stacey Marinkovich’s team, and the Diamonds coach is not shying away from the pressure.
They have every major trophy in international netball in their keeping but there remains one final frontier for the all conquering Diamonds – winning in New Zealand.
Since coach Stacey Marinkovich came to the helm in 2021, the Diamonds have won just one of their six fixtures across the ditch.
It’s a record the Diamonds hope to address when they meet the Silver Ferns in the Constellation Cup this month, the series played over four games split between Australia and New Zealand.
The Aussies hold the trophy after winning the series on goal difference last year despite dropping games in Auckland and Mount Maunganui by a combined 12 goals.
They erased the deficit in a single game with a 62-47 victory in Melbourne, turning the last match of the series into what was essentially a playoff for the trophy.
The Diamonds came from behind on the Gold Coast to win the match 57-53 and claim the series but winning in New Zealand remains a challenge.
When Marinkovich was appointed Diamonds coach in 2020, Australia remained no. 1 in the world but it had lost the sport’s two previous pinnacle events – the Commonwealth Games and World Cup – by a single goal in thrilling finals against England, in 2018, and New Zealand, in 2019.
They have since regained both those titles and also hold the Constellation Cup and Quad Series and are indisputably the best team in the world.
But with Marinkovich’s tenure starting with a 3-1 series loss to the Ferns in a Covid-affected series held entirely in lockdown in Christchurch in 2021 and the Kiwis then winning both New Zealand legs of the Con Cup last year, winning across the Tasman remains a massive challenge for the Aussies.
“There’s a real understanding that there is a significant difference to the way in which we both play the game,” Marinkovich said.
“We don’t get to see it too regularly and we certainly haven’t seen it in the last two marquee events.”
Despite heading into the Commonwealth Games and World Cup ranked no. 2 in the world, New Zealand did not make the final of either event and also avoided the Aussies in the semi-finals, meaning the pair has not met in the benchmark event since the 2019 World Cup final.
And given New Zealand’s rules around players voiding their Silver Ferns eligibility unless they play in New Zealand, there is little crossover, making every Test a key battle.
“Con Cup is really exciting and really special because it’s the traditional rivals going hard at it and for that dominance both on home and away soil.
“It’s going to be tough.”
The Silver Ferns won the Taini Jamison Trophy series against an inexperienced England team 2-1 last weekend despite a shock loss in the opening match.
“They have obviously started to build their performances coming off the back of that England series,” Marinkovich said.
“We’re very aware that they’re up and about, their confidence would have taken a step forward from their win in the Taini Jamison and we have the utmost respect for what New Zealand can actually do.”
Australia will head into the series with something of a new-look team given the international retirements of Steph Wood and Ash Brazill, who brought leadership and experience as well as their on-court skills at goal attack and wing defence respectively.
“Whilst we’ve got everything in the cabinet, it’s not locked and bolted – and I think the more you have, the more people come at you,” Marinkovich said.
“I guess the big shift in mindset for us is not about protection or defending things.
“It’s about continuing to evolve performance. That something we’re trying to shift in mentality, is it’s about trying to continue to push a performance forward.”
Australia will also play a standalone three-match series against South Africa this month, the Proteas visiting for the first time since 2005, with the Diamonds playing Tests in Cairns and Hobart for the first time.
Marinkovich knows Proteas coach, former Diamonds mentor Norma Plummer will have her team humming for the series, with the Aussies facing a turnaround of just over 48 hours between the final Constellation Cup match in Auckland and the South African series opener in Cairns.
“Norma will have them in particularly good shape and they’re coming in with quite a lead-in to face us after we finish with the Ferns … so we’re going to have to be at our best because when they’re flying, they have some real strength in their combinations now.”
Taking the game to new areas was also important for the Diamonds, Marinkovich said.
“You want to show that any player, anywhere within Australia, can go across the Netball Australia pathway,” she said.
“To be able to show that you’ve got to be able to take the game to those areas so that young girls can have aspirations.”
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