Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The Diamonds have been left questioning the refereeing of a Constellation Cup loss, with coach Stacey Marinkovich to seek clarity from World Netball.
Australia gave away 84 penalties to New Zealand’s 53 as the under-fire netball world No.1 outfit suffered a 62-50 defeat in the second Cup match in Christchurch.
Diamonds captain Liz Watson – playing as centre – was notably pinged in the first quarter for intentional obstruction after stepping into the circle as she tried to corral Maddy Gordon.
The experienced midcourter was then warned for encroaching into New Zealand’s circle in the third quarter, prompting Marinkovich to bench her skipper in favour of Kate Moloney.
Marinkovich refused to lay full blame on the Diamonds defence, believing the harshness of refereeing “shifts” when a match is being hosted in New Zealand.
Australia has not won a game across the Tasman in regular time since 2021.
“It’s something that I need to get some clarity on,” Marinkovich said.
“The fact that we rotated our whole defence line throughout, across the wing defence all the way through to the keeper, I don’t think we’re that ill-disciplined across the entire unit.
“We’ve got to understand what it is that we’re doing that we need to adjust more.
“It’s probably for us we get some clarity, where in history, the last four years, we’ve been penalised over in New Zealand and it kind of shifts when we’re in Australia.
“We’ve got to keep working through what that clarity is because I don’t think our game plan changes too differently.”
The Diamonds’ woes in defence come after Melbourne Vixens star Jo Weston was rested from the series.
Fellow defender Sunday Aryang has yet to make her comeback since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament during last year’s Constellation Cup extra-time win.
Jessie Grenvold has benefited from the pair’s absence and was given the nod to start ahead of goalkeeper Courtney Bruce in Christchurch.
But neither Grenvold or Bruce could find a way around the formidable partnership of Grace Nweke and Georgia Heffernan.
“We do have some defenders out at the moment and to be honest, Jessie’s had a really disrupted build (into the series),” Marinkovich said.
“She had an ankle injury while we were at camp, so … it just goes to show that we’re learning about the combinations.”
The Diamonds will need to be firing when the series heads to Sydney on Sunday if they want to retain the Constellation Cup.
Bragging rights are not the only thing on the line, with New Zealand a chance of dethroning Australia as world No.1 if they pull off a complete sweep.
