World champions Australia made a statement on Thursday night as they dismantled a misfiring England outfit to claim the opening match of their three Test series by 13 goals.
The Roses were blown off the court in a horror first half that saw coach Jess Thirlby admit her side was “schooled” by the Diamonds.
The loss has left England with more questions than answers after Thirlby was forced to change every position in a third term that the visitors did actually win.
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We review the game one talking points.
COACH’S EPIC ROAST AFTER FIRST HALF DEMISE
England arrived down under with a promise to take it up to the world number one Diamonds. But instead we saw a first half debacle where the Roses were unable to treasure position and repeatedly coughed up easy ball to Australia.
Ex-Rose Stacey Francis-Bayman said the Roses lacked “that level of ruthlessness and presence of mind in the moment that you have to really execute at international standard”.
And that wasn’t the worst of the criticism, with Roses coach Jess Thirlby brutally honest in her opinion of where it all went wrong as she said her side was “schooled” at both ends of the court in the first half.
“We had the Aussies going back on maybe first or second phase off that centre pass but it was there after we needed to have better intent,” she said post-match.
Both Shooters cop heavy contact | 01:13
“Being shadows in defence isn’t quite enough.
“There was a risk that this game at that point would blow out to 15 or 20 – and we are not that team.
“There’s no real excuse for us to lose by that margin.”
The second most experienced player in the line up, star shooter El Cardwell, was benched after just one quarter as she was well beaten by Diamond Sarah Klau.
Francis-Bayman was critical of England’s inability to hit the top of the circle to feed – instead opting for the long ball that was picked off time and time again.
“I think while the execution from England is poor, also the position from the feeding is quite far off circle,” she lamented.
“The players don’t really have a leg to stand on – percentages are higher when you feed from the edge of the circle. England can’t really argue the difference.
“Look where they are feeding from – barely inside the goal third.
“(The shooters) aren’t actually being served very well but equally the feeders might be feeling they are not presenting very clearly.”
Thirlby said players learnt “hard lessons” in the 13-goal loss – after going at a woeful 40% centre pass conversion rate in the first half.
“It’s never going to put you in competition – certainly not against a quality side like the Diamonds,” Francis-Bayman said.
“I think for too long people stood outside waiting for others to do the work,” Thirlby said.
“We need to be really honest.
“We’re not here to go through the next two (games) not making a difference – we need to see progress and we need to see it in Test 2.”
TRIED AND TRUSTED THE WAY TO GO
Australia and England are both in this series with one eye on the upcoming 2026 Commonwealth Games and 2027 Netball World Cup.
But the glaring difference between the two sides was Australia’s tried and trusted combination of Sophie Garbin and Kiera Austin in attack.
Coach Stacey Marinkovich had the luxury of leaving Cara Koenen and Sophie Dwyer on the bench as the Vixens teammates got to work for the full 60 minutes – and it was clear to see their winning connection as they racked up 70 goals between them.
But for England, Jess Thirlby was forced to change her entire seven for the third term after their on-court connections fell down.
Funmi Fadoju started on the bench as Fran Williams and Razia Quashie were given the nod in defence.
Imogen Allison started in centre but ended up looking more settled at wing defence while debutant Lois Pearson impressed at wing attack – despite coming on court initially at goal attack.
Liv Tchine’s introduction at goal shooter allowed Helen Housby back out to her more familiar goal attack, but all the changes took a toll on the Roses.
When asked if game one gave Jess Thirlby answers for who her best defensive end would be, ex-Rose Stacey Francis-Bayman laughed.
“I throw down a challenge and say that the defenders of the Roses team need to really step up and really own a bib,” she said.
“Although you buy into a team line up of rotating, you want to be out there and your performance needs to be sky high so the coach really has no need to put you on the bench.”
Remarkably, England were still belted despite going at 98% shooting accuracy. They managed just six gains for the match and racked up 26 turnovers.
THE WORLD ON IMOGEN’S BACK
New Firebirds recruit Imogen Allison was left to shoulder the load in a misfiring England attack end that saw star Eleanor Cardwell benched after just one quarter.
Too often it was left to Allison to try and find a target inside the circle as Hannah Joseph struggled under the immense pressure of Diamond Jamie-Lee Price.
“It becomes predictable, defensively makes it a little bit easier,” Fox Netball’s Catherine Cox said of the reliance on Allison.
“She is putting a lot of ball into the circle – unfortunately it isn’t all coming off. There is a lot being fed off of the circle,” added Stacey Francis-Bayman.
The Roses opted to take only debutant Lois Pearson into the opening Test as a wing attack back up – and they were forced to pay for that selection early.
With Pearson shifted to WA for the second half, that freed up Allison to move to wing defence.
“I really love her in wing defence and I liked her more in wing defence (against Australia),” Francis-Bayman said.
“I think she looked more settled.
“Not necessarily carry some of the weight or the toll of the game on her back.”
Allison still finished the pick of the Roses for feeds (20) and second for goal assists (13) – just one behind Housby, despite playing only a half in centre.
Both Joseph and second half centre Amy Carter combined couldn’t match Allison’s feats as together they managed just 12 goal assists and 17 feeds.
Diamonds keeping eye on 2027 World Cup | 01:53
SUPER SARAH LEADS BY EXAMPLE
Heading into game one there were questions over how the inexperienced Diamonds defence would fare given the absence of injured duo Courtney Bruce and Jo Weston.
But those fears were allayed inside the opening minutes as match MVP Sarah Klau dismantled England’s attack end.
Klau was in everything as she and fellow defender Sunday Aryang picked off the long ball in.
The NSW Swifts star was given three different opponents – and beat them all in an outstanding display.
“Almost singlehandedly dismantled the entire shooting end for the Roses,” Fox Netball’s Hannah Hollis praised.
“No matter what shooter Jess Thirlby put on Sarah, she was like, ‘yeah, bang bang bang! I’ve got it’.”
Teammate Rudi Ellis, who replaced Klau in the dying minutes to become Diamond #192 with her official debut, was left in awe of her teammate.
“What she did out there was just insane,” she said.
“She was phenomenal.”
“It was the way she led that defensive end. Without Courtney Bruce, Jo Weston, she’s not the loudest defender out there but she was directing play,” ex-Diamonds defender Bianca Chatfield added.
Even England coach Jess Thirlby admitted her side “weren’t smart” with how they attempt to feed the ball in around Klau.
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich was pleased with the partnership of Klau and Aryang given their limited court time together.
“Sarah and Sunday haven’t played a starting line rotation before… they’ve been in the squad before but to be able to put that combination and see what it could really do was pleasing,” she said.
“They’ve literally had two match play opportunities at training (leading into Thursday’s Test).”
It’s worth remembering Ash Ervin also remains waiting in the wings for her chance to debut.
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