Constellation Cup: Australian Diamonds out to ‘rectify’ performance against New Zealand Silver Ferns in final Test

Australian netball’s senior shooter Cara Koenen says nothing lights a fire in the Diamonds’ belly like a loss, with the team determined to rebound from their loss to the Silver Ferns.

Hard-marking Diamonds shooter Cara Koenen says she’ll be looking to “rectify” her performance in the Constellation Cup decider after going away from her strengths in a game three Australian loss that kept New Zealand’s faint series hopes alive.

The Diamonds lost a seesawing contest 56-53 in Invercargill on Thursday night to extend their hoodoo in New Zealand and give the Silver Ferns a remote sniff of a series victory.

While star Ferns shooter Grace Nweke made a huge contribution in three quarters on court in just her second match back from a knee injury, it was New Zealand’s defensive unit that really stepped up, goalkeeper Kelly Jury turning in a player of the match effort with five gains and using her hight and wingspan to great effect against both Koenen and Sophie Garbin.

Cara Koenen and the Diamonds went down in a thrilling game 3. Photo: Getty Images

Koenen, who finished with a flawless 33-of-33 in the Diamonds’ game two win in Brisbane, backing up a strong performance in game one, was replaced at halftime on Thursday night as Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich looked to her bench for answers to New Zealand’s swarming defence.

“So far I’ve been pretty pleased (with the series) but I definitely wasn’t happy with my performance and my workrate in that third Test,” Koenen said.

“I think that I went away from what I’m good at and I didn’t really stick to my strengths, so I’ll definitely be looking to rectify that heading into this fourth Test here (in Auckland) and making sure that my work rate’s up and I’m connecting really well (Kiera Austin) and my middies out the front and turning to post and putting the shots up.”

Now with 30 Test caps under her belt, Koenen is the most experienced player among the Diamonds’ gaolers – something she says is still “a little bit of a weird concept for me”.

Having played most of her career – at club and international level – alongside Steph Wood, a player rated by many as one of the smartest in netball, as well as playing off the bench at the Quad Series and Commonwealth Games in 2022 with Gretel Bueta in her prime, Koenen has not before had the weight of being the senior starting shooter on her shoulders.

Koenen was not pleased with her own performance in the loss. Photo: Getty Images

Bueta’s recent sabbatical, first for maternity leave, and for at least 2024 while she enjoys time with her two young sons, thrust Koenen into a lead role over the past year at the Constellation Cup, England series, Quad series and a World Cup in which she played a key part in Australia’s victory.

And she comes full circle in New Zealand where she again needs to step up if Australia are to seal their first win since 2021 and a Constellation Cup match she played a key role in as a series debutant.

Koenen played just 15 minutes on debut in the opening match of that series – a 49-44 loss – joining Kiera Austin on court in what was also the goal attack’s Diamonds debut.

She replaced Caitlin Bassett in game two with the former Diamonds captain having played the series opener in pain on shot knees and led the Aussies to a 45-36 win, pouring in 29 goals to be named player of the match in a game in which Sophie Garbin also made her debut in an 11-minute cameo.

“(Constellation Cup) was my first (international) experience in a very different landscape obviously coming off the back of managed international quarantine during Covid,” she said of a series in which all four games were played in Christchurch.

“It’s crazy to think that that wasn’t really that long ago – and doing it as well with largely the same shooting circle in Kip (Austin) and Sophie (is amazing).

“Obviously we do miss Steph. She is an incredible leader out on court, she’s incredibly intelligent and she’s a massive playmaker for us but I think that her having become content in what she’s done in her international career has opened the door for (Austin) and especially in those first two matches she was incredible.

“I think that we all went away from the game plan in that third test.”

The Diamonds will take a 16-goal lead into the final clash. Photo: Getty Images

But Koenen said the way the Diamonds had responded to losses in the recent past – bouncing back from defeats in the rounds at both Commonwealth Games and the World Cup to win the tournaments – was testament to the team’s ability to learn from their mistakes quickly.

And she knows Australia won’t be content to win the Constellation Cup on goal difference alone.

“Absolutely not. We definitely do want to go one better than then last year,” she said of the Diamonds’ series win on goal difference after both teams won two games.

“Coming off the back of the first two Tests we put ourselves in a really good position to be able to lock the trophy away nice and early.

“There’s nothing that lights the fire in an Aussie’s belly like going down a Test, so we definitely haven’t lost sight of the goal and we’ll be putting our best foot forward come this last match.”

Originally published as Constellation Cup: Australian Diamonds out to ‘rectify’ performance against New Zealand Silver Ferns in final Test