The Australian netball team have proven there’s life after Sharelle McMahon despite drawing a two-Test series against New Zealand.
Their 118-Test shooting skipper required Achilles tendon surgery, which ruled her out of next month’s world championship in Singapore.
The Diamonds also lost valuable Queensland midcourter Lauren Nourse to a knee injury.
However, the Australians have shown they will present a formidable defence of their world title, with two solid performances against arch-rival New Zealand.
They won the first Test by five goals and lost the second in Auckland 45-42 on Sunday night.
“It gives us huge confidence,” said new captain Natalie von Bertouch, stranded in Auckland until at least Tuesday due to ash from the volcano in Chile.
“As that line-up, we’ve only played together a couple of times and to be quite successful against the Silver Ferns … and we’re only going to improve.
“It would be great to be able to have Sharelle and Lauren as an option, but the girls who have stepped up into their roles have really taken it strongly.”
Von Bertouch said despite the mixed results, there were a lot of positives, including the impressive debut of newcomers Sharni Layton and Chelsea Pitman.
“The confidence the group has as a whole at the moment is really positive, and it means that the new girls are getting out there and not missing a beat,” said von Bertouch.
“And Julie Corletto, she had a fantastic first game and came back firing for a quarter last night, and she hasn’t been on the international stage for a while either due to injury, so it was fantastic to see them get out there before the worlds.”
Coach Norma Plummer opted to play towering shooter Caitlin Bassett alongside veteran Catherine Cox at goal attack and then Natalie Medhurst and, while they were outplayed for a quarter by the Silver Ferns, came home strongly.
“We were able to try some new combinations and we’ve never played against the Silver Ferns with two talls in our shooting circle before, so I think that’s shown us we can put up lots of different combinations and still be quite successful,” von Bertouch said.
“It was a great learning experience for Caitlin and I think it will be a great thing for her heading into the championships.”
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June 16th 2011 @ 6:25am
Taila said | June 16th 2011 @ 6:25am | Report comment
I love netball I even play netball I would go 2 every netball game if I could