Live: Diamonds struggling again in bid to end NZ losing streak

Klau re-enters the game at GK. This is the third goal keeper Australia has trialled against Nweke in this game.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 56-46

Oh no, the umpires are definitely looking for this now. Wallam also gets caught for pushing off the body of Jackson.

DONNELL WALLAM is on! I repeat! Donnell is on court!

She hasn’t played a game since 2024 but Australia’s third Indigenous Diamond scores her first attempt at goal and there’s a cheer from the crowd. When Donnell left the Firebirds under difficult circumstances at the end of 2024 she headed across the ditch to play for the Mystics, so she’s got a lot of fans over there. Garbin heads to the bench.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 51-44

Garbin is again sprung for pushing off Jackson and the Silver Ferns make it count.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 50-43

Bruce sends a bullet pass from the middle third into Garbin and it rockets over the back line. Way too much on that and it gifts the Silver Ferns another goal.

SCORE: New Zealand 48-43

Selby-Rickit enters the court at GA, Toeava is back at WA and Gordon resumes the centre bib for New Zealand. Interesting move. What we can take from this is the Silver Ferns recognised they needed to go back to their starting midcourt but were still happy to give a bench player a run alongside Nweke in the circle.

Grenvold put the pressure on Nweke, she didn’t take a feed into the circle cleanly and the ball was loose, Kate Heffernan tried to pick it up from the edge of the circle, but stepped in and conceded posession. That’s brilliant work confusing the space by Grenvold! Australia convert the opportunity.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 44-42

The Silver Ferns goal attack fumbles the ball and Australia makes the mistake count with two and a half minutes on the clock.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 44-40

Kate Heffernan was under pressure to take the first phase of the centre pass and Bruce came through and cleaned up a bad pass just over the transverse line in the middle third. Australia edge one back on the scoreboard.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 41-35

Liz Watson is warned by the umpire at the top of New Zealand’s circle and it forces a change to the line-up. Moloney takes the centre bib and Parmenter comes off the bench into WD.

Grenvold rolls back onto court at GK, Bruce moves to GD and the newest Diamond has an immediate impact. Heffernan misses a shot at goal and Grenvold holds her spot on the other side of the post, beating Nweke to the ball.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 38-28

The Aussie shooters are stretched wide as Burger cuts off a pass into them underneath the post and the Silver Ferns convert.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 38-27

A ball to Watson in the far pocket was overcooked by Garrett but the captain managed to keep it in play, there was a scramble for loose ball down low and New Zealand comes up with it as Austin is pinged for an offensive contact.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 36-27

Up by seven goals, New Zealand has taken the opportunity to make some changes in the midcourt for the third quarter. Reueulu-Buchanan rolls on in WD, Kate Heffernan takes the centre bib and Gordon moves into WA as Toeava heads to the bench.

Nweke was challenged by both Bruce and Garrett in that last passage of play with 15 seconds on the clock  but managed to hold onto posession. They’re doing a good job at trying to prevent her from setting up in the circle and dictating space but she’s too strong and powerful.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 33-25

We’ll take a look at the numbers at half-time, but plenty of players have hit the deck already. Bodies are banging into each other, hands and arms are getting caught up. It’s been an entertaining clash. Remember netball is no longer classed as a contact sport, it’s now referred to as “controlled contact”.

Toeava winds the ball up from the transverse line and sends it in high and long to Nweke for a Silver Ferns goal.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 31-23

Matilda Garrett gets her first bit of game time, rolling on at GD to replace Klau with about six minutes left to go in the second quarter.

A couple of big cross-court balls from Watson and Horjus were picked off by New Zealand but they lost them in transition.

Then Jackson’s long arm forces Austin to step back on her shot, she misses, Burger jumps on the rebound and the Kiwis convert another Australian centre pass.

SCORE: New Zealand 27-20

Australia sent the ball out to the edge of the circle multiple times before Austin missed a shot and Jackson gobbled it up. The Kiwi shooters reward the defenders’ efforts.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 21-16

Courtney Bruce is on to start the second quarter in her usual GK bib. Grenvold off. Everyone else as they were for the Australians.

No changes for New Zealand.

With 45 seconds on the clock, Moloney comes in for a challenge late on Heffernan in the middle third. Heffernan hits the deck and Moloney loses her footing. It’s Australia’s 19th contact for the quarter. That’s quite high!

Two minutes left in the quarter. Garbin misses a shot at goal from right underneath the post but recovers. First to the rebound and gets it on the second attempt.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 14-11

Watson tried to take a pass on the far sideline in Australia’s goal third but landed with a foot out of court. It gives the Silver Ferns an extra opportunity and although they had to work really hard in transition this time, with Australia’s defence upping its workrate, Nweke ends up adding another to their tally.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 12-9

Grenvold was first to ball, getting a touch on it as both players went up in the air, but Nweke was able to pull it in with two hands and converts for the Silver Ferns.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 8-6

Pushing off the body of Jackson, the Australian goal shooter draws the eye of the umpire and New Zealand break the centre pass for the first time in this game.

SCORE: New Zealand lead 5-4

Bad hands from Nweke! Toeava sent in long feed way off circle edge and it bounced out of the goal shooter’s hands. Great work hedging off the body of the target by Grenvold. She’s confusing the space and putting pressure on Nweke. Here’s an opportunity for Australia.

Alas, as they head up the other end Heffernan intercepts a pass from Watson in the goal third and we see a very quick transition from the Silver Ferns. That was a strength about their game on Sunday. The hosts recover to score their centre pass.

SCORE: Level 3-all

Nweke answers at the other end for the Kiwis.

SCORE: Level 1-all

Warm-ups done. Anthems done. Huddles done.

Let’s get this party started in Christchurch!

AUSTRALIA

The good news for Diamonds fans is that vice-captain Kate Moloney returns to the line-up after recovering from the finger laceration that kept her out of Game 1. Without Moloney in the team, there was a midcourt shuffle. Captain Liz Watson filled her spot at centre and Georgie Horjus was given the wing attack bib. They lacked punch up the middle and Watson ended the game on the bench. It wasn’t ideal.

Many — including us — thought Jamie-Lee Price would have been a better choice to start at centre. Price had a cracking Super Netball season in that position with the Melbourne Mavericks. The bad news is, she’s unavailable tonight with a calf injury.

The other change is goal shooter Donnell Wallam replaces Cara Koenen in the team. Wallam has never played against New Zealand before and last played for the Diamonds at the 2024 Nations Cup. Last year she was only an invitee at camp and missed out on a national contract, so this is a huge boost for her career! Wallam is the tallest shooting option for Australia at 193cm tall and definitely has the X-Factor. With a basketball background, she has a unique playing style. Koenen was shaky throughout the Constellation Cup opener and finished with 77 per cent accuracy, so it make sense to try something different.

NEW ZEALAND

Just one change for the Silver Ferns. Head coach Noeline Taurua has omitted Kimiora Poi (30+ caps) and added Peta Toeava (15 caps). It’s a bold choice, as Poi was part of the team’s gold-medal-winning Commonwealth Games team. She started in wing attack in Game 1 and played 38 minutes but Taurua has also spoken about trying to find the balance throughout this series of giving opportunity to less experienced players in preparation for next year’s World Cup and winning each game. Toeava has a brilliant connection with Grace Nweke that developed during their time playing at the Northern Mystics. Giving that connection more time to build at an international level could be beneficial down the track.

Head coach Stacey Marinkovich is hoping for a better start from her team in game two, after Australia fell behind by as many as 15 goals in Auckland and only managed to claw the scoreboard back to 56-50 in the final quarter once the opposition brought on their bench players.

The biggest area they struggled was in the goal circle. Whether it was feeding the shooters or going for goal, the Silver Ferns were continuously able to steal ball and intimidate using their long arms over the shot. Marinkovich trialled almost every shooting option she had except running Georgie Horjus at GA. The pocket rocket remained at WA for the entire match.  Sophie Garbin lifted Australia’s accuracy when she came on after the half-time break, landing 20 of her 21 attempts.

Meanwhile, defender Jessie Grenvold impressed on debut, becoming Diamond #198 when she was injected in the second quarter and topped the gain stat for her team with once intercept, four deflections and one pickup across 43 minutes of playing time. You can read more about the game at the link below.

A reminder that Australia hasn’t won a Test on New Zealand soil for five years. There is a serious home crowd advantage in this series, with both sides struggling to get over the line in opposition territory. Seeing as they play at different venues for each Test, it really speaks to power fans have while cheering for their team!