Australia have rolled on with unbeaten form at the Netball World Cup to defeat Scotland by 40 goals.
Key points:
Australia rotated its roster for the clash against Scotland, having already downed Fiji, Tonga and ZimbabweCoach Stacey Marinkovich was critical of Australia’s third quarter, after several changes were madeThe Diamonds next play Malawai tomorrow, before taking on England at 5pm on Thursday
The Thistles – ranked 10th – managed to hold the Diamonds to their lowest total in Cape Town in the 77-37 clash, providing some resistance in the second half with tough defence and fearless feeding to tall shooter Emma Barrie.
Despite the overall margin, Scotland will be pleased with their efforts as the youngest playing group at the major tournament with an average age of 23.9 compared to Australia’s 28.
Meanwhile, from an Australian perspective, it is still tough to judge who is in Stacey Marinkovich’s top seven – if such a thing exists at this World Cup – as all teams have adopted a ‘rolling subs’ mentality.
This is a result of the top domestic leagues around the world like Super Netball, New Zealand’s Premiership and the UK Superleague implementing variations of that ruling since Liverpool in 2019 as part of the modern evolution of the game.
Australia made 18 changes across the 60 minutes, sometimes running a completely different line-up to the one that played just 15 minutes before.
It appears the players themselves are also out of the loop about when they’re going to be injected into the contest and who might get the start in the harder battles to come against England, Jamaica or New Zealand, as the Australian head coach joked that she was even keeping herself guessing.
“Certainly, we don’t want to show all our hand at once and the players have got to be ready because they don’t know my pre-planned changes and if I spontaneously change my mind,” Marinkovich said.
“Everyone knows their role and they’ve now been in a range of combinations to understand what that is in each partnership or against a particular opposition or style.”
For instance, watching the first quarter unfold, where Jamie-Lee Price stole the ball back three times from Scotland but also turned it over three times, Marinkovich’s decision to bench her for the second quarter and later bring her back on in the third would have seemed like a decision to let Price catch her breath and get a better look at where she could make an impact in the game.
Instead, Marinkovich confirmed that was a pre-planned move and that Price “could have played out of her skin” in the opening quarter and still found herself on the bench by the second.
The approach really shows a step-up in cunning tactics from the coach, who has helped the side win back the Constellation Cup and Commonwealth Games gold with an obsession over building depth.
Not only does every one of the Aussie athletes play a second or third position, they now seem to be able to connect with two or three other players in any given combination.
Then there’s the growth of being able to play a different role game-to-game, whether it be as a starter, an impact, or a stopgap. All 12 players have managed to get on court in at least three of Australia’s preliminary matches in different roles each time.
Cara Koenen is one of these athletes that ticks all the boxes.
Her trademark pop through on the baseline and outstanding partnership with Steph Wood at club-level for the Sunshine Coast Lightning has long been a strength.
But now she is performing consistently at such a high standard, no matter which stage she enters the game or who she is asked to shoot alongside.
With Sophie Garbin she offers height, with Keira Austin a really strong moving circle that almost glides and dances up the court, while her aerial work and ability to hold her own under the post is another key area she has excelled in over the last 12 months.
In the past, the opposition’s game plan would have largely been around muscling up on the 190cm, long-limbed, slight-build shooter to put her off her game, but these days after a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the gym, she is standing up to that kind of pressure.
What also helps is that this is the first time since making her debut for the Diamonds in 2021 that her parents have been able to travel to watch her represent Australia in person.
Living on Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville, Queenslan,d and owning a newsagency, the family found it hard to get to international matches in the past.
That really hit home after the Commonwealth Games gold medal match last August, where Koenen was one of the only players without family present in Birmingham.
“Downtime is vital in a tournament like this, and I’ve been making time to spend with my family who are watching me play for the first time in person in the green and gold,” Koenen told ABC Sport.
“After the Commonwealth Games where we won the gold medal I facetimed my parents and they said, ‘never again are we missing an opportunity to watch you play’.
“You can’t take wearing this Diamonds dress for granted because you never know when your time is going to be up, so they recently retired, sold the shop and can now get away for a bit.
“It’s really nice to be able to look up into the stands and see their faces.”
On her individual growth and the depth of the group, Koenen reflected on her seven-year partnership with Wood at the Lightning, as well as the bonds she formed years ago with Austin and Garbin coming up through the Australian underage pathways.
“I definitely feel like there has been a lot of growth in my game and it probably comes from working with Steph, week in, week out at club land,” she said.
“I’m constantly learning off her and then in the Diamonds environment, Stacey has a very clear game-plan and vision, so it’s pretty much just her telling me what to do and me executing.
“Hopefully our versatility will pay off towards the end of the week.”
The Diamonds next play Malawi, ahead of their final preliminary game against England on Thursday.
Nweke rules out of the tournament
In other news, current world champions New Zealand have been dealt a devastating injury blow.
Many tipped Silver Ferns goal shooter Grace Nweke as the player to watch at this World Cup, after Nweke shot 70 goals at 96 per cent for the Northern Mystics to win the New Zealand Premiership grand final.
Nweke tweaked her knee yesterday and was forced to leave the court. Scans have confirmed she suffered a partial tear in her patella tendon and has been ruled out.
World Netball granted New Zealand a permanent replacement in the form of Tiana Metuarau quickly enough to allow the change to take affect ahead of their game against Wales.
It was the first time we’d seen the replacement player protocol carry out, which is new, allowing teams to each bring three reserve players alongside their main 12 in case something like this occurs.
Although the Silver Ferns put on a brave face to beat Wales 83-34, the impact of just how big a loss Nweke will be for their chances will be felt most in the finals.
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