The Origin Australian Diamonds have defeated New Zealand and England in the opening weekend of the Netball Nations Cup.
The two wins put the Diamonds in a good position to feature in the final of the Netball Nations Cup with only one match against Uganda to go in the preliminary stage.
Before the team heads to Leeds for their last two matches of the series, here’s what we learned from the first weekend in London.
DIAMONDS’ VERSATILITY ON SHOW
Throughout both matches of the Netball Nations Cup Origin Diamonds Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich has pulled the trigger on positional changes, testing different combinations and match ups.
The Australian playing group has risen to the occasion and been able to work through any chinks in their Diamond armour that appeared after the changes were made.
Sophie Dwyer was a headliner in the starting line up for match two against England, the youngster given the opportunity to make an impact early.
Dwyer met the challenge with open arms taking the opportunity and showcasing that she can perform at the highest level slotting 11 goals with only one miss as she withstood the pressure of enemy territory.
Dwyer was impressive during the opening weekend of the Netball Nations Cup.Speaking about the decision to start Dwyer after the match Marinkovich explained her desire to use the series to try new combinations and starting line ups.
“This is an opportunity to really reward players and try new things,” Marinkovich said.
“Sophie Dwyer had a great game [against the Ferns] she’s really young, hasn’t been out there a lot and the only way she’s going to learn is to put her in the ferocity of the start of a game when it’s really physical and everyone’s fresh.”
Dwyer played a half alongside Sophie Garbin before the duo made way for Cara Koenen and Kiera Austin to flourish in the second half.
Courtney Bruce, Jamie-Lee Price and Paige Hadley were the only three Diamonds to remain on court from the second quarter into the third.
The Diamonds lost that third quarter against England but the team put in the work and powered home in the final term.
THIRD QUARTER JITTERS
In both matches from the weekend, the Diamonds have stumbled after halftime in the third quarter.
It was the only quarter the side lost against New Zealand, as well as England. Against England the Diamonds came out fresh from halftime with changes across the court taking some time to settle in against the Roses who remained unchanged.
The Origin Diamonds have some work to do to come out from halftime firing.The Roses were able to steal the lead and won the third quarter by seven goals, a number the Diamonds will look to trim substantially in future clashes.
When changes are made teams naturally take a little bit to settle out on the court but every player on the team needs to be ready to come on at a moment’s notice and slot in as seamlessly as possible, with those remaining on court needing to also adjust quickly.
It was a similar story against New Zealand with only three players remaining from the second quarter into the third, but the scoreboard took less of a hit.
In the fourth quarter of each match the Diamonds were able to withstand the heat to assert their dominance and storm home.
Although the third quarter jitters are likely a result of line up changes and a fierce determination from the opposition to try and flip the game on its head, it’s an area the Diamonds will continue to look at improving.
READY TO MAKE HISTORY
With two wins on the board the Diamonds’ attention now turns to a historic clash against Uganda.
Meeting for the first time in history the She Cranes are an unknown to the Origin Diamonds, setting up an unmissable match on Sunday morning.
Between now and then the Diamonds will have plenty of time to take their learnings from the first two games of the Netball Nations Cup and apply them in a training scenario.
With the first weekend done and dusted the Diamonds now look to Uganda and finals.Uganda will be doing the same with both sides unable to use prior experience against the other to inform their plans.
Uganda will be fired up and have the belief that anything is possible after two close losses going down by six goals to England and five to New Zealand.
The Diamonds will be determined to secure their place in the final of the Netball Nations Cup and test themselves against a different game style.
If the Australians lose then their spot in the final of the Netball Nations Cup will be determined by the results of the other matches.
Sunday 28 January First Direct Arena, Leeds
Australia v Uganda 2:00am AEDT
England v New Zealand 4:00am AEDT
Monday 29 January First Direct Arena, Leeds
Third place play-off 1:00am AEDT
Final 3:15am AEDT
