Nat Medhurst: Why this Constellation Cup went horribly wrong for Diamonds and what’s next

While there was plenty of talk beforehand about Australia’s recent inability to win in New Zealand, it’s been a huge shock to see the margins of defeat across the ditch and in Perth.

Things have gone horribly wrong for the Diamonds and it’s hard to understand, when they’d just beaten an England Roses side that went on to defeat the Silver Ferns.

As a former Diamond, it’s hard to watch. You feel for the players; their body language was terrible in that final quarter on Sunday, and I know that feeling where you just want the ground to swallow you up and the game to be over.

They’ll say that it’s all about playing for pride in the series finale, a dead rubber in Melbourne. For mine, they have to play for some understanding with each other, because at the moment it just looks so disconnected out there. There were ‘coach killers’ throughout Sunday’s loss, silly errors that handed easy ball to the Ferns.

Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich spoke about accountability and now being able to have tough conversations with each other. I’d be fascinated to know what that looks like for this team, with a lengthy break from national team duty looming after the fourth Test and plenty of time for reflection.

Here is what I’ve seen across the court so far in this series.

SHOOTERS

Kiera Austin looked very rattled in the first two Tests, having just dominated England to earn Player of the Series honours and seemingly cement herself in that Diamonds GA bib. Sometimes players just have a bit of a voodoo against certain opposition and having not performed in New Zealand, it was fair enough that Austin was dropped for game three. When she next gets an opportunity, it’s simply up to her to get to grips with playing the Ferns, bringing that dominant form in both attack and defence.

Sophie Dwyer gave a glimmer of hope off the bench in New Zealand and I then thought she started really well in Perth; her drives on to the ball to help open up Sophie Garbin, and being willing to turn and go to post herself. Yet she then went away from that in the second half, where I think she needed to dig in.

It was so frustrating seeing the number of times that our shooters were passing the ball back out when they were almost under the post, resulting in some turnovers. Dwyer has a beautiful shot from anywhere in the circle and Garbin can also shoot from range. I’d like to see our shooters turn and go to post with conviction.

Watching the game back, part of me thinks that Austin should be recalled and the Diamonds should go with a moving circle, rather than having Garbin just play as a holding shooter. Garbin is a brilliant hold, but without genuine height. Both Garbin and Cara Koenen can play as moving shooters, and Koenen in particular has been getting pinned on the baseline. A moving shooter may help to open up a Silver Ferns defence that is working incredibly well at the moment.

MIDCOURTERS

When you end up with captain Liz Watson and vice-captain Paige Hadley sitting on the bench, it shows that New Zealand did their homework for this series. The Diamonds just haven’t had enough penetration out of midcourt, with the Silver Ferns limiting their ability to use each other for screens, or to create opportunities for swing balls around the edge of the circles. Usually those patterns of play are prevalent for Australia to open up space. Clarity around their centre pass structure – who is moving where and why – needs to be improved.

Watson going to the bench again on Sunday largely speaks to the phenomenal play of Ferns star Kate Heffernan. Her workload through the New Zealand midcourt is crazy and brings in so much ball. Mind you, the Australian midcourt defensive effort on Heffernan was poor, allowing her free run.

Watson is still one of the best midcourters in the world, you can’t argue that. I don’t question that her and other Diamonds midcourters around age 30 – including Hadley and Kate Moloney – will still be in the mix for 2026 Comm Games selection, provided they maintain good SSN performances.

I’d like to say this series has just been a hiccup. On the other hand, these combinations have worked together for so long that perhaps it’s a matter of finding some different strategies, to keep the opposition guessing.

Yet there is so much midcourt talent that Marinkovich will be keeping a close eye on in the next few years to challenge those girls. Georgie Horjus came into the Diamonds midcourt on Sunday and it was exciting to see her debut; she did pretty well given the circumstances.

Adelaide’s dual premiership player Tayla Williams is one I really like. She’s got a lot of grit, a really strong defensive game, great on attack, good ball skills. If she continues to reduce her error rate and increase her consistency, she’ll become a very exciting prospect for the Diamonds. Queensland Firebirds player Macy Gardner is another who’s in with a chance over the next couple of years.

DEFENDERS

Ash Ervin was named in this year’s Diamonds squad yet not selected for the England and New Zealand series. I do wonder what it might have looked like if she was given a few minutes.

Both Sarah Klau and Courtney Bruce have struggled to win enough ball to really impact the Silver Ferns. Watching Rudi Ellis against Grace Nweke, she didn’t have a crack at enough of the pocket balls that were going in. Nweke being such a strong player, I think she almost prefers having the defender body-up, so perhaps Ellis needs to get half a step off Nweke and instead confuse the space, and give herself opportunities to have a fly at the ball.

I was surprised that Sunday Aryang didn’t play at goal defence in the third Test. Ameliaranne Ekenasio is such a mountain of work and has a beautiful shot, so shutting her out of the game is one of the biggest keys to beating New Zealand; she dictates so much of how the Ferns’ frontline operates. Aryang is excellent one-on-one, as well as being able to drop back and cover space, with her quick feet and huge arm span. I’d like to see her start the next Test at GD, with the pure aim of stopping Ekenasio.

Jo Weston remains Australia’s best one-on-one defender, the tightest marker, though from Australia’s veterans she probably most concerns me as a prospect for the next Comm Games, due to picking up injuries like calves.

COACH

Stacey Marinkovich has made mass changes both during games and mid-series against the Silver Ferns. They haven’t worked, but she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t, given how things were going. The changes were justified for mine, with players not delivering, and switching plans during a series is very difficult to pull off.

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Her decision now in this final Test is: what do I want to get out of it? Am I looking to give minutes to younger players – Tilly Garrett, Dwyer, Horjus and the like, to see how they go with more time and responsibility – or am I bringing the experienced players back in and really challenging them on their ability to deliver across four quarters?

Winning in this situation feels pretty hollow, it doesn’t mean much and there’s a fair chance that New Zealand will take the opportunity to make some changes. The Diamonds line-up will be very interesting.

For New Zealand’s part, with Dame Noeline Taurua at the helm, I can absolutely guarantee that they will be going out to put the final nail in the coffin and get the clean sweep. Some forget that Taurua had to reapply for her job and there have been a lot of ongoing questions over the New Zealand coaching role, so this has been an emphatic response after losing to England.