The Diamonds are looking to clean sweep the Australian leg of the Constellation Cup when they take on New Zealand on Wednesday night.
And they were off to a hot start off the back of some Sophie Garbin (15/16) and Kiera Austin (4/5) brilliance.
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But their 19-13 lead started to slip away when the Silver Ferns introduced Georgia Heffernan into goal attack.
While Martina Salmon had managed 4/4 before she was benched at quarter time, Heffernan was able to feed star Grace Nweke with ease.
Swifts star Nweke lifted her game in the second term as her battle with Courtney Bruce intensified.
The duo were locked in a heated head-to-head clash that resulted in a number of penalties going both ways.
“It is getting very very physical between Bruce and Nweke!” Cath Cox said.
“We know Courtney Bruce is good at the theatrics… you don’t want to take her on in that game!” Bianca Chatfield added.
The second quarter became New Zealand’s first win of the series, as they finally outscored the Diamonds.
With their lead whittled away to just two at half time, it was Australia who came out firing with a near-perfect 15 minutes of netball.
What started with a Courtney Bruce intercept ended in a 21-9 goal blowout as Australia racked up six gains to essentially put New Zealand away.
Bruce added a second intercept for the quarter, as Jamie-Lee Price, Sunday Aryang and captain Liz Watson – remarkably with her third intercept of the night all won ball in that epic third term.
The Ferns simply had no answers for Australia’s dominance and headed into the final quarter suddenly staring down a 14-goal deficit.
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STARTING SEVEN
Australia: GS Garbin, GA Austin, WA Watson, C Moloney, WD Price, GD Aryang, GK Bruce
New Zealand: GS Nweke, GA Salmon, WA Reuelu-Buchanan, C Moloney, WD K.Heffernan, GD Burger, GK Jackson
DIAMONDS FORCED TO FACE DIRE RECORD
While there’s concerns for the Diamonds later in this series, coach Stacey Marinkovich says she’s not focused on the New Zealand leg – with her thoughts firmly on game two.
“Everyone talks about our win-loss record over in New Zealand. I think there’s things put into context,” she said.
“We understand what our performances have been over there.
Diamonds dominate opening Con Cup Test | 02:39
“We’re very mindful of being present in this moment.
“Yes we’ve had a good performance in the first game, but we’ve got to be able to do it (in game two) and then focus to New Zealand.”
The Diamonds have failed to register a win in New Zealand since early 2021.
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