Aussies prove their worth

The Australian Diamonds showed again why they deserved every dollar they fought for in their pay war with Netball Australia by toppling England to remain undefeated in the Netball Nations Cup in London.

Backing up from a takedown of arch rivals New Zealand, the Diamonds continued their historical dominance over England with a thrilling 61-59 win, the 75th Australian victory in 85 matches against England.

The Diamonds had to overturn a two-goal deficit going into the final period, having led by five at halftime.

Sophie Garbin led the scoring for the Australians, finishing with 26 goals, while Cara Koenen (12) and Kiera Austin (12) contributed in the win that gives the Diamonds a 2-0 record at the tournament.

Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich has been able to test the depth of her squad, running several different combinations, and said it was driving them to improve.

“We used personnel changes to keep changing things up. That was international netball at its best,” she said.

“It was hard to think, and that’s what you want in these competitions.

“This is an opportunity to reward players but at the same time we’re trying new things.

“You’ve got to keep refining and the girls have to keep growing.

The Australians will get a week off before having to suit up again against Uganda, who took it up to New Zealand before going down 65-60, in a first-ever clash against the African nation.

“This is quite exciting, we can do a bit or training and take the learnings and do something with it,” Marinkovich said.

“Australia has never played Uganda. It’s historic, that’s front of mind.”

The tournament is the first for the Australian team since last year’s bitter and at times emotional pay dispute with Netball Australia that finally ended with a new deal for all Australian players.

Among the casualties was NA chief executive Kelly Ryan, who quit her role amid the fallout.