Geologically, diamonds are formed when pure carbon is put under extreme pressure. There’s an obvious sporting parallel there, after the fledgling Australian netball side lost to England in the Quad Series just six months out from the World Cup.
Lisa Alexander’s Diamonds retained the title in London, a record third-straight, by goal percentage but it is the three-goal loss to the Roses – who also spectacularly beat Australia to win gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games – that really matters. What happens from here will define this generation of Australian players.
The Diamonds, who also banked wins over New Zealand and South Africa, went into the last match of the series without three of their starting seven; captain and match-winning shooter Caitlin Bassett, her deputy, midcourt general Gabi Simpson and starting keeper Courtney Bruce. All three picked up injuries while in England.
Bassett, the most capped player in the squad given the recent swathe of retirements of Laura Geitz, Susan Pettitt, Sharni Layton and Madi Robinson, fractured her arm during a practice match in Manchester on Thursday, Simpson injured her leg in a practice days later and Bruce was a shock late withdrawal from the Roses game after sustaining a concussion during Sunday’s match against New Zealand. It meant the team did not include a player with more than 40-odd Tests.
The trio’s omission is a crucial footnote to the Roses’ win at the Copper Box – which they celebrated in supercilious fashion, despite being pushed all the way by what ended up being a second-string Australian line.
Commonwealth Games hero Helen Housby was forced to the bench after a poor start in the first, and England brought on 36-year-old Rachel Dunn at shooter, who turned the game for Tracey Neville’s side.
Alexander tried Emily Mannix, Jo Weston and April Brandley on the versatile veteran, but they couldn’t find an answer, especially with Jo Harten – who was missing injured from the Roses line which lost to Australia in the September Quad Series – running the show out in front of her.
At the other end, Gretel Tippett, who was a stand-out in Australia’s win over an ever-improving South Africa, was well down, despite finishing with 25/26. She gave away six contacts – more than Weston in defence – and turned the ball over four times. The polarising 25-year-old clearly missed the “easy out” of a tall timber like Bassett at the post.
Caitlin Thwaites, long the understudy to the “other Caitlin” started the game at shooter, but came off at half-time with 15/16, as the Diamonds trailed by three, after going into the first break five up.
Steph Wood then paired with Tippett, but it was still four at the last break. Reminiscent of epic battles between New Zealand and Australia, the last quarter was heart-in-mouth stuff, but the Roses were the more composed and came away with victory over the world No 1 side.
Whether they want to admit it or not, the win hands the English favouritism for the Netball World Cup, which will be held in Liverpool in July. It also confirms New Zealand, while on the improve, will most likely be fighting for bronze, as England have long done.
For England, the emergence of defender Layla Guscoth, who starred at wing defence, the injection of the older and wiser Dunn, the pure grunt of Serena Guthrie and the classiness of Geva Mentor has created a formidable combination. Add tall defenders Ama Agbeze and Beth Cobden for the World Cup and they start to look unbeatable.
But come July, with Bassett, Simpson and Bruce fit and battle-hardened by Super Netball, the Diamonds will be equally intimidating. And they’ll be hungry, having filed away the memory of the Roses celebrating at the Copper Box like they had won the World Cup for a little extra motivation.
It will be fascinating to see what these little chunks of carbon can do.
