Diamonds find new rivalry
IT’S taken a long time but international netball finally has a new rivalry.
Not long after watching her side lose their Commonwealth Games gold medal to England, Australian coach Lisa Alexander admits their new rivalry currently surpasses their stoushes with New Zealand.
The Diamonds’ last-second defeat came at the end of a tournament that will also be remembered for the demise of the Silver Ferns, whose loss to netball minnows Malawi, will live in Games folklore.
But the deeper the Kiwis fell — they also lost the bronze to Jamaica by five — the higher the Roses climbed.
Asked if the old enemy had become their new one, Alexander said: “No doubt about it, particularly with the World Cup in Liverpool next year.”
Plotting revenge is already on the mind of midfielder Gabi Simpson. “This will drive us. We know we prepared and we ticked every box but to have this extra fire in your belly is something that we’ll draw on in the future,” she said.
“It hurts a lot now but it’ll make us all the more stronger. They’ve taken it on our turf and that’s where we’ll set our mind to, (England).”
England’s triumph over the Commonwealth will only fuel the debate of whether imports should be allowed in the Super Netball competition, with five of their players featuring the Australian league.
Their dramatic win over the reigning world champions came just one day after a similarly thrilling comeback win over Jamaica.
England coach Travey Neville said the international game needed a new superpower, who will next meet Australia in the biannual quad series in September.
“We need to keep replicating this competition because out from the last Commonwealth Games, Australia refused to play us two years out so we never got to experience that competition,” she said yesterday.