Diamonds avoid clean sweep in Constellation Cup

No worries Ann, very happy to bring it to you. We’re glad you enjoyed the coverage.

Thanks for tuning in to ABC Sport’s coverage of the Constellation Cup. Congratulations once again to the Silver Ferns on their 3-1 series win. We’ll add some more detail to our match report above and also have some more analysis coming on the state of the Diamonds in due course.

Nice to see the Aussies get a victory on home soil in front of a sold-out John Cain Arena after such a tough series.

A lot of reflection still needs to be done on their selection and tactics as they build to the 2027 World Cup. But for now, let’s relish the positive. A great team performance, a wonderful debut series by Jessie Grenvold and a full 60 minute performance from Georgie Horjus inside the circle.

Despite winning the overall series, the New Zealand head coach was a bit disappointed by her team’s performance.

“We looked a bit weary, we looked a bit tired, I could feel it slipping away from us and we did try to hold on there,” Noeline Taurua told Fox Netball.

“It’s a bummer that we’ve lost this game, but the fire is still burning.”

The team will now head home and play against the New Zealand men’s team in a couple of weeks to blood some new players, which they didn’t get a lot of opportunity to do in this series.

Grace Nweke is in tears after being named as the inaugural recipient of the Plummer-Aitken Medal. Happy tears we hope!

Introduced this year, the award honours legends Norma Plummer AM and Dame Ruth Aitken and moving forward, will recognise the standout player of the Constellation Cup.

Across four games Nweke scored 172 goals from 183 attempts. 94 per cent. An average 55 minutes per game. Well done.

The Diamonds avoided a clean sweep in the series, as the Silver Ferns claimed it 3-1. So host broadcaster Fox Netball says the Australians have done enough to hold onto their world number one ranking. But as per our earlier post, we’re not totally sure that’s correct. I wish World Netball’s ranking system wasn’t so confusing! ABC Sport has asked the global governing body for clarification before and they basically told us to wait until the update, so we won’t know for sure until December 1st.

Finally! The Aussie Diamonds win the gain stat. It’s the first time they’ve done it during this Constellation Cup. More intercepts and deflections are positive. They still finished with more penalties, particuarly contacts. But they were cleaner to ball today and more measured in their performance.

We already highlighted the workrate of Australian captain Liz Watson at half-time and she ended up finishing the match with 50 feeds. That’s huge. Playing in her home state, she’s put on a great performance.

Georgie Horjus is the well deserved Player of the Match. She’s played every minute of the Constellation Cup for Australia and we finally got to see her play goal attack after spending most of the Commonwealth Games and this series at wing attack.

It’s a real look to the future of the Diamonds. The 24 year old finishes with 26 goals at 93 per cent. 20 goal assists and 28 circle feeds. Only missed two attempts in 60 minutes.

A sigh of relief for the Diamonds who avoid a clean sweep and have been excellent in the final game of the Constellation Cup. They get back to their best and continue their dominance in Melbourne. They’ve won every match they’ve played against the Silver Ferns in this city since 2015.

A Heffernan pass with too much on it over the top of the circle is about to go out the sideline and Grenvold and Toeava are after it. But it’s Grenvold who gets the penalty call. First to it and umpire calls contact against Toeava.

SCORE: Australia leads 67-56

They’ve dearly missed her this series, but at least the Aussie defender is at the game, cheering on her team courtside.

Parmenter has a point to prove against Toeava it seems! Who really got the better of this Diamonds team in Christchurch. Parmenter is locked on her direct opposition’s body and using her last bit of energy to contest every pass.

SCORE: Australia leads 63-53

Toeava is the queen of the long feed. She sends the ball from the midcourt miles downtown to Nweke.

SCORE: Australia leads 61-52

All of these little moments are helping the Diamonds pull away further. Nine minutes left in the game and the margin is now at double digits.

SCORE: Australia leads 58-48

The earlier warning hasn’t put off Amy Parmenter, who sharply turns her body to cut off a pass from Selby-Rickit.

The force of the take sees her fall to the floorboards but she hangs on with two hands on it. As a player that has been in and out of the squad over the years, this is her opportunity to prove her worth to Marinkovich.

The Silver Ferns are forced back on the centre pass and Watson is stronger in the contest than Reuelu-Buchanan. The Aussie captain get’s the umpire’s call.

Both Walmsley and Selby-Rickit miss a shot at goal and the Diamonds use the opportunity to score through Horjus at the other end.

SCORE: Australia leads 53-46

We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, considering what happened in the last game when Australia were in front at the final break, but the Diamonds are looking the goods. All those changes from the Ferns in the third quarter really mucked up their flow. 14 in 15 minutes! That must be some kind of record?

Meanwhile, Australia is yet to make a change.

New Zealand have responded to the 50-43 scoreline. Six changes come with minute and a half to play. Toeava is back on in wing attack, Selby-Rickit back into goal attack. Amelia Walmsley gets her first minutes on court at goal shooter.

Gordon, Georgia Heffernan and Nweke head to the bench.

Three minutes earlier, Burger also returned at goal defence after a short spell on the bench.

This Horjus and Garbin combination is starting to gel nicely and with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter they now have the biggest lead in the game.

SCORE: Australia leads 48-43

Heffernan miskews a pass for Nweke and it’s so big, it sails over the baseline and into the umpire’s hands. The throw-in is Australia’s and they go full court to score.

That shooting pairing that has worked so well together at the Commonwealth Games is not connecting the way the Ferns would like late in this game.

SCORE: Australia leads 46-42

While I’ve got you up to speed on all of that, the Diamonds have pulled away on the scoreboard. They’re quietly building well into this third quarter, chipping away at the scoreboard.

SCORE: Australia leads 44-41

Five minutes into the quarter, Amy Parmenter has been warned by the Welsh umpire for repeated infringement. That was quite an innocuous one, if anything Parmenter tried to lower her arms and move to the side of Heffernan as the pair softly bumped outside the circle.

It’ll be interesting to see if any changes are made off the back of this because if Parmenter gets called for doing the same thing again, she could end up with a two-minute suspension, leaving her team with just six players on court.

New Zealand have made five more changes to their line-up at the break and we’ve just clocked them.

Selby-Rickit and Toeava subbed off. Reuelu-Buchananand Georgia Heffernan come off the bench and into WD and GA respectively. Kate Heffernan moves to centre and Gordon to wing attack.

Nweke misses a shot at goal and Grenvold pinches the ball. Australia goes full court in transition and convert.

SCORE: Tied 33-all

Just as the Diamonds were looking comfortable, Jackson appears and disrupts their attack.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 33-32

Up the middle channel, Horjus sets up Garbin for the opening goal of the third quarter.

SCORE: Tied 32-all

Kelly Jackson has New Zealand in front on the gain stat, she’s really come to life in this second quarter. Again, the Diamonds are ahead on the unwanted contact stat, but the Silver Ferns aren’t getting three feet before trying to defend and it’s costing them on the obstruction tally.

Pretty evenly matched here. The only thing that stands out is the Silver Ferns’ excellence at converting their gains. They’ve been strong in that area all series. In regards to shooting, which you can’t see listed here, both teams are very close. New Zealand’s overall accuracy sits at 91.4 per cent and Australia’s is 91.2 per cent.

An even quarter! 17 goals scored by each team in that 15 minute period as Horjus nails a penalty shot to close out the half.

A couple of things to note. The only substitution so far has been for the visitors. Parris Mason replaced Karin Burger at goal defence five minutes into the second quarter. We noted Burger was spotted in a moon boot at the airport two days ago, so maybe there’s a foot injury that needs to be managed?

Liz Watson has been much better in this game, playing her preferred position at wing attack. She has spent a lot of time at centre in the series to cover injuries and as much as the Diamonds tell us she’s used to that position, playing it in Super Netball for the Sunshine Coast Lightning, she’s clearly a better wing attack. In 30 minutes of netball Watson already has 26 feeds.

Again Nweke drives out of the circle but as she tries to pass the ball to Toeava onto circle edge, Parmenter picks it off and the Diamonds add another to their tally.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 31-29

Right up on the transverse line, Jackson steals more ball.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 31-28

Two minutes to go and Nweke is feeling confident, she pushes out of the circle to help bring the ball into the circle.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 30-28

Gosh the Silver Ferns goal keeper has been so strong this series. She holds Garbin under the post and with front position gets two hands to a Diamonds’ pass.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 23-22

Bruce falls offside in the Diamonds’ goal third trying to help her team bring the ball up court and New Zealand edge one back.

SCORE: Australia leads 22-21

Tracking Toeava as she drove forward for the centre pass, Moloney shuts down the option and forces a turnover from centre Maddy Gordon. The Diamonds convert to take advantage of the mistake.

SCORE: Australia leads 21-20

The Silver Ferns are pushed wide in attack and although Gordon taps an overcooked pass back into play, it’s Parmenter that’s first to the loose ball. The Diamonds level things up and go back in front on their next centre pass.

SCORE: Australia leads 17-16

On the first centre pass of the second quarter, Grenvold‘s fancy footwork gets her in a great position todeflect a pass into the circle from Selby-Rickit. The Diamonds convert her efforts.

SCORE: Tied 15-all

The Silver Ferns mean business. There have been moments when they’ve been put under pressure by the Diamonds but they’re so clinical in transition. They lead the gain stat 3-1 so far and have converted 100 per cent of those three gains.

The Kiwi defenders are double tagging Garbin and restricting her ability to have a crack at goal. Goal attack Horjus is taking on the load as a result and the crowd cheers a successful shot.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 14-13

With roughly three minutes left in the opening quarter, Horjus tries to pass back to Moloney on the circle edge and find a better place to shoot but Gordon forces turnover and suddenly the Silver Ferns are in front.

SCORE: New Zealand leads 12-11

Horjus misses a shot at goal and both New Zealand Silver Ferns circle defenders jump on the rebound. The visitors edge one back.

SCORE: Australia leads 10-9

The Diamonds hold up New Zealand on the centre pass and the defensive pressure forces the Silver Ferns backwards. Burger throws a desperate pass back to Jackson in Australia’s goal third. Garbin and Watson work together to squeeze the pair on the sideline and turn the ball over. The Aussies go three in a row.

SCORE: Australia leads 9-7

Jessie Grenvold has been impressive in her debut international series and surely needs to be a lock for World Cup selection now. With front position, she leaps high in the Silver Ferns’ circle and gets a deflection on a feed meant for Nweke. But it’s not enough to prevent New Zealand scoring.

SCORE: Tied 6-all

A feed into Garbin was overcooked over the baseline and she couldn’t pull it in. But as the Silver Ferns tried to convert the opportunity, Selby-Rickit missed the shot and Bruce was straight on the loose ball. The Diamonds recover possession and Garbin scores.

SCORE: Australia leads 4-3

A build up in pressure saw the Silver Ferns spray the ball over the baseline on their first centre pass, but Selby-Rickit intercepts Australia’s throw-in and New Zealand respond.

SCORE: Tied 1-all

Australia has the first centre pass of the match and Garbin converts to put the Diamonds up.

SCORE: Australia leads 1-0

A happy hunting ground for the Diamonds at John Cain Arena? According to Fox Netball, not since 2015 have the Silver Ferns won in Melbourne.

After losing this Constellation Cup with one match still left to play, the Diamonds head coach now has a 50 per cent success rate in the series since she took over in 2020. Here’s what her winning rate looks like overall. The heat increasing on her position is mostly recent results, seeing the Australian side miss the Commonwealth Games final for the first time in history and now losing these past three matches to the Ferns.

To be fair, Marinkovich is missing some key players in this Constellation Cup. Jo Weston opted out of the series, wanting to give her body a rest. Sunday Aryang is still in the rehab process trying to return to the court after rupturing her ACL in the final match of the last Con Cup this time last year. Jamie-Lee Price has been unavailable for most of this series with a calf injury. Kate Moloney has also had multiple finger injuries that have limited her time on court. Lastly, Matilda Garrett has been ruled out with concuission.

AUSTRALIA

The Diamonds tried to run this line-up in game three, but a finger injury to Moloney on the opening centre pass meant they had to do a quick shuffle. Dwyer came off the bench and spent most of the game at goal attack. It’ll be good to see what this line-up can do, as Stacey Marinkovich is clearly keen on testing it out.

GS – Sophie Garbin

GA – Georgie Horjus

WA – Liz Watson

C – Kate Moloney

WD – Amy Parmenter

GD – Courtney Bruce

GK – Jessie Grenvold

SUBS: Kiera Austin, Sophie Dwyer, Sarah Klau, Cara Koenen, Donnell Wallam

NEW ZEALAND

Veteran Selby-Rickit gets her first start of the series at goal attack. She has come off the bench in all four matches and done well playing in that position, so Noeline Taurua has rewarded her. Also — just like it was in game two — Toeava has come from outside the team, straight into the starting line-up, taking back the wing attack bib.

GS – Grace Nweke

GA – Te Paea Selby-Rickit

WA – Peta Toeava

C – Maddy Gordon

WD – Kate Heffernan

GD – Karin Burger

GK – Kelly Jackson

SUBS: Georgia Heffernan,Parris Mason, Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, Carys Stythe, Amelia Walmsley

Karin Burger was pictured in a moon boot on Monday at the airport leaving Sydney, but has been named so we’re assuming it was precautionary. The Silver Ferns confirmed she did not wear the boot yesterday or today and has been named in the team. Back in 2022, Burger was ruled out of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a navicular fracture in her right foot that required surgery. However, this seems to be an issue with the left foot.

AUSTRALIA

Diamonds unchanged as two of their 14 are injured. Matilda Garrett (concussion) and Jamie-Lee Price (calf) remain unavailable.

NEW ZEALAND

Peta Toeava replaces Kimiora Poi in the Silver Ferns match day 12 for the fourth test in Melbourne. This is the same match day 12 as the second test in Christchurch.

In our opinion, as the physicality ramped up in the final quarter of game three, the match started to get out of hand. Players were caught underneath each other on the ground and others hit the deck hard in the contest for the ball. It’s important the umpires keep control of the match so nobody gets hurt. There was physicality from both sides, as they were desperate to win. But the Aussie Diamonds again finished on top of the penalty count with 51 total to the Ferns 44.

In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Silver Ferns midcourter Maddy Gordon was awarded possession in a contest and the 11,000 strong crowd in Sydney didn’t like the call. A chorus of boos rang around the stadium and Gordon responded by mimicking a chattering mouth with her hand. A cheeky gesture that was caught on broadcast.

“I don’t know what came over me,” Gordon laughed.

“Oh my goodness, I honestly didn’t think at the time anyone would see it, so this is quite hilarious.

“I was just a bit over the crowd booing blatant contact calls so that was just my reaction, a bit of an eye roll and a bit of a, you know.

“I back it. You know I’m all for loud and passionate crowds, love them, but just the booing yeah, got me. In that moment I just had enough … it was funny that the camera was right on me.”

We’ll keep an eye on Maddy and see if there is any more crowd interaction in game four. Read more on the story from New Zealand Radio Sport’s Bridget Tunnicliffe in the article below.

Amy Parmenter also told the ABC that the Diamonds had bigger priorities this series than winning the trophy. The group believes they’re in a good position after trialling different combinations and playing styles for next year’s World Cup.

“100 per cent. We’ve got a camp in January and really, that’s about it before the actual lead in camp in July or August, so there’s really not a lot of time.” Parmenter said.

“This is our last international game and you have to have that depth. You just don’t know [what can happen in the next Super Netball season] before that World Cup.

“It’s really exciting that we are getting a lot of young talent out there and setting ourselves up well I think.”

With all due respect to Amy, I’m not sure fans would agree.

On Tuesday, Australian players Kiera Austin and Amy Parmenter appeared on ABC News Breakfast. They touched on the pressure mounting on their head coach Stacey Marinkovich to keep her job beyond her current contract that expires at the end of 2027. And were also asked if the Diamonds were unfairly held to a higher standard than other national sporting teams.

 As we’ve been banging on about all series, not only was the Constellation Cup there for the taking but so is the world number one ranking.

Silver Ferns head coach Noeline Taurua said she thought her team needed to win all four games to move from second position into World Netball’s top spot, but according to people much better at maths than I, a 3-1 series victory is already enough for them to do that.

Still, I’m sure they’d love to be absolutely sure and win all four matches to cement the position. The global governing body is next due to update its list on December 1st.

New Zealand could do something they haven’t done in 16 years.

Since the series began in 2010 it has only ever been clean swept twice (2014, 2017) and never by the Silver Ferns.

There’s pride at stake for the Aussies, who will do their best to try and prevent that historic defeat. But the results aren’t looking great so far for them ahead of a home Netball World Cup next August in Sydney. This is their final international game before the major tournament and their last chance to build some confidence.

This was the moment the Ferns realised they’d won the Constellation Cup for just the fourth time in history.

 In case you missed it, a reminder of what happened in game three in Sydney. The Diamonds were the better team for the majority of the game before being overthrown in the final quarter.

In front on the scoreboard 41-39 at three-quarter time in a gripping contest, Australian fans were starting to hope before the Silver Ferns rattled off seven straight goals to begin the final quarter and wrangle control of the game.

It was a frantic end to the match, the physicality went up a notch and although the Diamonds fought hard to level the score 47-all with five minutes left to play, the Silver Ferns were more disciplined defensively and slicker in transition. They treasured any possession they won back and ultimately finished the match on top 52-49. You can read our report on the match below.

Hi there, welcome back to ABC Sport’s coverage of the 2026  Constellation Cup. Brittany Carter reporting for live blogging duties ahead of the fourth and final game.

The Kiwi side has been so dominant throughout this trans-Tasman contest that they head into tonight’s match in Melbourne with an unassailable 3-0 lead. It’s the fourth time they’ve claimed the trophy in 16 series and just months after winning Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow they’re also on the brink of pinching the  world ranking number one ranking spot from the Aussie Diamonds.

SCHEDULE

Game 1: Sunday 18 October, 5:40pm AEDT — Auckland

New Zealand won 56-50

Game 2: Wednesday 21 October, 5:40pm AEDT —  Christchurch

New Zealand won 62-50

Game 3: Sunday 25 October, 4:00pm AEDT — Sydney

New Zealand won 52-49

Game 4: Wednesday 28 October, 7:30pm AEDT — Melbourne