Netball enters brave new world as New Zealand stun Australia

New Zealand signalled their intent to set a new netball world order after stunning the Diamonds to kick off the Constellation Cup. The Commonwealth Games gold medallists picked up in Auckland where they left off in Glasgow with a 56-50 series-opening win at Spark Arena on Sunday.

Experienced Diamonds duo Jo Weston (managed) and Kate Moloney (finger) were sorely missed by the world No 1 outfit, who were left in tears in Glasgow after settling for a bronze medal. Australia had suffered a shock semi-final defeat to Jamaica to miss a gold medal match for the first time since the sport joined the Games program in 1998.

For so long second fiddle to the Diamonds, the Silver Ferns have the opportunity to disrupt netball’s status quo further ahead of next year’s World Cup. If they sweep the four-game trans-Tasman series, New Zealand will dethrone Australia for the world No 1 ranking for the first time since 2013.

Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich admits Australia are still working on the heartbreak of their Glasgow campaign. “I don’t know if we were a bit tense coming in, but that’s the thing coming into New Zealand and off the loss of the Commonwealth Games,” Marinkovich said. “We just need to process that and work our way through what that experience was.”

Grace Nweke was unconquerable on Sunday and fired off 40 goals from 41 attempts, spoiling Diamonds goalkeeper Courtney Bruce’s 100th game. New Zealand captain Karin Burger held up the other end with goalkeeper Kelly Jackson to shut down Australia’s full attacking roster of Kiera Austin, Sophie Garbin, Cara Koenen and Sophie Dwyer.

The Silver Ferns charged to a 15-10 lead at quarter-time, thanks to a four-goal burst from Nweke. Marinkovich was forced to turn to her bench early, tasking debutant goalkeeper Jessie Grenvold with containing Nweke.

The Diamonds coach also tweaked her attack, with Dwyer returning to the court for the first time since missing her after-the-siren shot against Jamaica. Goal attack Dwyer had been left unused on the bench in Australia’s bronze medal match win over England. New Zealand’s ascendancy continued well into the second quarter, soaring to a 10-goal lead after Nweke again fired off four straight goals.

So uncharacteristic was the Diamonds’ performance that Marinkovich then took captain Liz Watson off the court, calling on Jamie-Lee Price to take centre duties for the second half. With Marinkovich’s bench depleted, the Diamonds came to life in the final quarter and scored 17 goals to New Zealand’s 11, but it was too little, too late.

Marinkovich believes the Diamonds have been put on notice, with the Silver Ferns clearly benefiting from time spent in Super Netball. “New Zealand are clinical at the moment,” Marinkovich said. “There’s no doubt that I think Super Netball has shown them what to do in pressured moments on a regular basis. Everyone’s capacities have certainly grown. That’s the reality of it now.”