Australia must be at their best against NZ

THEY suffered their worst ever loss to England less than a week ago but Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander still considers the rebuilding Silver Ferns a danger team for Australia.

The old netball adversaries collide in their final match of the Quad Series in Melbourne on Sunday.

Victory will secure the Diamonds the sought after cleansweep they were chasing less than a year out from their World Cup defence in the UK.

But Alexander said the Australians must bring improvement to their game in the wake of their win over England in their Commonwealth Games gold medal replay this week.

“We have to prepare for them. We have to bring our best game,” she said.

“New Zealand have the ability to exploit any down patches from us.

“We need a good start. We have had two scrappy starts now and we will do some soul searching on that to make sure they come out better.

“We have to be mindful of them. They are always dangerous because they have new players in. We will need to be more adaptable.”

New Zealand beat South Africa 61-37 earlier this week but last Saturday fell to England 52-39 in a record loss.

Australia are now the only undefeated side in the Quad Series. Alexander admitted Wednesday’s victory after losing to England by one at the Commonwealth Games was an important one.

“It is our new time. The monkey has gone from our back,” she said.

“If we had not won more pressure would have been placed on everyone.”