Australia must lift says veteran Gerrard

 

By Melissa Woods, 9 Jul 2011

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 Diamonds, Mo'onia Gerrard, netball

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Australia will have to play 50 per cent better to beat Jamaica in Saturday’s semi-final showdown at the world netball championship according to Diamonds defender Mo’onia Gerrard.

The Australians booked a place in the final four in Singapore with a patchy performance against a physical Malawi side which resulted in a 58-44 win.

The Diamonds felt it was the work-out they needed ahead of taking on the Jamaicans, also known for their physicality.

But Gerrard said they would have to play much better to keep alive their dream of defending their world title in Sunday’s grand final.

“We’ve played against Jamaica plenty of times now so we’re definitely have to go harder than what we did.

When asked if they needed to play 50 per cent better Gerrard said: “Definitely”.

Australian coach Norma Plummer said the team was better prepared to face Jamaica than Malawi, who many of the side had never played before.

Jamaican sharp-shooter Romelda Aiken has spent the past four years honing her skills with Queensland in the trans-Tasman competition and, standing at 196cm, is a major threat for the Australians.

“We know Jamaica’s game and we know the big ball will be going either in to Romelda or Jhaniele (Fowler) so we’ve got to be able to shut that down,” Plummer said.

The veteran coach didn’t give much away about her likely combination to start against the world No.4 side, who easily overcame Trinidad and Tobago 79-42 in their quarter-final.

Their match is at 7.45pm AEST at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Meanwhile New Zealand and England will meet in the other semi-final on Saturday.

While the world No.1 Kiwis had a shocking start to trail South Africa at quarter-time before prevailing 58-28, England steam-rolled Northern Ireland 87-16.

Those teams will face off at 5.45pm AEST.

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