Australian Netball Camp: Fantastic Four the Diamonds will target ahead of next World Cup
The Diamonds have named a team stacked with world champions to take on New Zealand from next week, but they’ve cast an eye to the future by inviting four rising stars into camp.
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They’re the fantastic four – the quartet of players that have the chance to fast-track their Diamonds ambitions after being invited to the Australian team’s training camp ahead of their series against New Zealand next week.
Not originally named in the Diamonds’ squad for 2023-24, Alice Teague-Neeld, Tippah Dwan and young guns Hannah Mundy and Ash Ervin will get the chance to test themselves against the best in the world over the next week at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
With half the Constellation Cup squad already 30 or over or turning 30 inside the next 12 months, it’s the right time for the Diamonds to be looking to the future.
While Teague-Neeld is already 27, her outstanding form for West Coast Fever warrants inclusion in the Diamonds camp, while Dwan gets a look-in again after being an invitee on Marinkovich’s initial tournament squad for the 2021 Constellation Cup.
The addition of Ervin, just 20, and Mundy, 22, is particularly exciting for the future of the sport though, with both earmarked for big careers.
So what do we know about them?
Ashleigh Ervin
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich is on the lookout for her next tall defender coming through the system and have found a prime candidate in 192cm Ervin, who was outstanding in her first season of Super Netball with the Sunshine Coast Lightning earlier this year.
An ACL injury that ruled Diamond Tara Hinchliffe out for the season gave Ervin more court time than she would have expected in her first year but she thrived and grabbed the attention of Marinkovich and the national selectors.
“Ash showed great potential in her first year at SSN (Super Netball), having great impact when she entered games,” Marinkovich said.
“I’m really looking forward to see what naturally transfers to the Diamonds environment and her taking the opportunity to develop and grow.”
With Courtney Bruce, Sarah Klau and Jo Weston all 32 or 33 by the time of the next World Cup in Sydney in 2027, will they all remain in the Diamonds mix? The trio will be outstanding mentors for Ervin in camp in Canberra this week.
Tippah Dwan
Dynamic shooter Dwan has been on Marinkovich’s radar since she landed the Diamonds role, heading to New Zealand for the Constellation Cup campaign in early 2021 as a training partner.
While she played a reduced role in Super Netball that season given Gretel Bueta’s return to the Queensland Firebirds, she rediscovered her mojo in Adelaide this season playing in the Thunderbirds’ premiership campaign alongside Eleanor Cardwell and with the retirement of Steph Wood and Sasha Glasgow having committed her international future to England, Dwan is again in the picture.
“She’s been in our pathway for a little while now and coming off the back of the season the Thunderbirds had and the way that she made her mark in that goal attack position, showed that she’s just taken a little bit of time to adapt and shift as she changed clubs,” Marinkovich said.
“But I think she’s certainly found her feet and is starting to understand what her game is all about.”
Hannah Mundy
Mundy may only just have turned 22 but she’s long been considered a Diamond in waiting. The daughter of former Australian rep Shelly O’Donnell has excelled at junior level and learnt early what it took to play in the best league in the world when she was thrust into the Melbourne Vixens’ line-up in place of an injured Liz Watson for the entire 2021 season.
Having shadowed Watson at the Vixens for several seasons, she’ll now have the opportunity to see what’s expected at the next level when she joins the Aussie captain in camp in Canberra over the next week.
“I think the way in which she not only moves on court, but her netball intelligence is far beyond her years,” Marinkovich said.
“When you actually sit down and have a conversation to her about what’s happening out on court, she has incredible insight.
“It’s about being able to match that insight to her physical capacities and understanding the tempo of the game and how she needs to shift and move that.
“But I certainly think that the way in which she plays is going to be a really exciting prospect for us.”
Alice Teague-Neeld
While Teague-Neeld is already 27, her outstanding form for West Coast Fever over the past two seasons in particular since reinventing herself as a wing attack warrant inclusion in the Diamonds camp.
A former goal attack who previously played in the circle with Jhaniele Fowler, Teague-Neeld has moved further into the midcourt but has continued her incredible connection with the Jamaican great.
“Alice has obviously played in a in a particular combination at the West Coast Fever and I think the part we want to see is what does that movement and her ability to play-make and use those skills look like with a different shooting circle and other players around her.
“I know she’s been working hard, she’s ready to take on this experience and it’ll be good to work with her again,” former Fever coach Marinkovich said.
Originally published as Australian Netball Camp: Fantastic Four the Diamonds will target ahead of next World Cup
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