Over the years, there have been three certainties in life, death, taxes and Australia and New Zealand playing thrillers in finals of major international netball tournaments. The Commonwealth Games are as big as netball tournaments get.
Glasgow will be the fifth time Netball has been hosted at the Games, and both the Australian Diamonds and the New Zealand Silver Ferns have played in all five finals. Each time they’ve put on riveting matches as well.
Australia won the first netball Gold medal of the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur in 1998, and followed it up with Gold in Manchester in 2002, where the two nations played out a classic.
The scores were locked after regulation time and then extra time, taking this pulsating contest into sudden death, where the winner had to win by two goals. Australia managed to get away with it that day, 57 to 55. What a contest that was.
Australia is currently number one in the world with New Zealand number two. England are number three and Jamaica sit fourth in the rankings, with South Africa and Malawi rounding out the top six.
England has won three of the four bronze medals in past Games, with Jamaica claiming that prize in Manchester.
New Zealand has been able to turn the tables on the Australian Diamonds at the past two Games, with Melbourne a particularly bitter pill to swallow in 2006 for Australia. This time it was the Aussie girls who were pipped in a close one, and likewise in India in 2010.
A new look Australia
Since Netball became part of the Commonwealth Games family, you would look at the Diamonds team and at least one of Liz Ellis, Catherine Cox, Sharelle McMahon or Natalie Von Bertouch would be in their line-up. At times they had the luxury of all four, but it’s definitely the changing of the guard as these Diamonds go to Scotland without one of them.
It’s still a pretty strong squad, although they lack the experience of New Zealand. Four players remain from the Silver medal performance in Delhi: Laura Geitz, Kimberlee Green, Nat Medhurst and Renae Halinan. Geitz will spearhead the defence and is the captain of the side.
Laura Geitz’s main support in defence for Australia will be her vice captain, Bianca Chatfield, who didn’t make it to Delhi in 2010 and is a welcome addition to the squad.
Nat Medhurst is another experienced campaigner as a goal shooter and goal attack and will combine with the two Caitlins, Thwaites and Bassett. If Caitlin Bassett can get her hands on the ball, the Diamonds could cause havoc. When she shoots, she rarely misses.
Road to the final
Australia is in pool B, and after taking on Wales on July 24th, they face a dangerous match against England, who might be ready to make two steps up on the podium and break the Australian and New Zealand domination.
England continues to invest plenty of money into their elite sporting programs, with netball receiving a significant boost. You only have to remember the London Games two years ago and how well they performed as a nation to know this investment is money well spent.
Their captain Pamela Cookey may be out due to injury, but the depth of talent is excellent. Geeva Mentor has continued to enhance her reputation as a player, starring for the Melbourne Vixens in their Trans Tasman Trophy win this year.
Jade Clarke is the new captain and has also had experience in the Trans Tasman Trophy , while the Corbin sisters, Sasha and Kadeen and their growing profile are also important to England. If they manage a win in that second pool match against the Diamonds they will avoid New Zealand in the semi-finals.
They destroyed Australia in a test series at the start of last year 3-nil, and while that confrontation wasn’t yesterday, it should give England confidence they can take it up to Australia.
The big test: an experienced Silver Ferns outfit
New Zealand’s squad for these games is extremely experienced and could be the last throw of the dice for a number of players in their team. Expect the Ferns to be on a mission to make it a hat trick of gold. Sadly for them and netball as whole, arguably the greatest player of all time and certainly the game’s most prolific ever goal shooter, Irene Van Dyke, has retired prior to the games.
She was a star with South Africa and then decided New Zealand wasn’t strong enough, despite the fact they had been the best in the world without her on numerous occasions.
She leaves massive shoes to fill, and not just in her scoring ability. But the Silver Ferns have serious depth in their goal shooters. with Maria Tutaia and former Samoan representative Catherine Latu.
Leana DeBruin, another player born and bred in South Africa, will be 37 when the Games begin but is still one of the world’s best defenders. She will combine with Joline Henry in the back court, a player that has been an integral part of the Silver Ferns for a decade.
They have another experienced defender coming back in Anna Harrisson after taking a year off to have her first child. Anna’s addition means the Silver Ferns are a Mothers Club of sorts, with six children among four players. DeBruin and Henry also have one child, while Liana Leota has three. Amazingly, she returned to play with her Trans Tasman side the Central Pulse just five weeks after the birth of her latest.
As well as having experienced and outstanding goal shooters and defenders, the Silver Ferns have one of the best centres and playmakers in the sport in Laura Langman, who has played over 100 tests and is integral to so many of New Zealand’s attacking moves. They will be very warm favourites in their pool to progress the semi final.
The other five nations in Pool A are Scotland, Jamaica, Malawi, Northern Ireland, and first time Commonwealth Games participants and the lowest ranked nation at 18, St Lucia.
New Zealand’s campaign starts with the whole crowd virtually against them, when they take on Scotland.
Who’s Australia’s other competition?
The other countries in Australia’s pool are Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and South Africa, teams that the Diamonds have easily accounted for in the past. 11 of the top 12 ranked countries in the world have qualified for the 12 team tournament. Fiji is the only one to miss out.
Jamaica is seen as the main rival to the big three for a medal. Romelda Aiken, another player with extensive Trans Tasman competition, experience is their marquee player. Jamaica is very lucky to have one of the most respected coaches in the history of the sport. Australian legend Jill McIntosh, as their technical director. It is a great coup for this proud netball nation.
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre is the venue for the Netball.
The venue will be the home of six sports, with Gymnastics, weightlifting/powerlifting. Judo, wrestling and boxing also being based there.
With the best netball nations of the world being in the Commonwealth, expect an outstanding tournament. Although England is ready to produce their biggest challenge yet, surely one of the Glasgow Games’ highlights would be another Australia and New Zealand thriller in the final.
I think we can get that outcome, with the Australian Diamonds winning by one goal, with that goal coming on the buzzer. Surely I’m not asking for too much?
Fast Facts
– Australia and New Zealand have contested all four Commonwealth Games finals previously, and just two goals separate the two sides, with New Zealand ahead.
– Both Australia and New Zealand’s skippers retired in the year before the Commonwealth games, with Irene Van Dyk calling it quits just before the tournament announcement. Natalie Von Bertouch retired last year after a string of injuries.
– This will be the fifth time netball has appeared at the Commonwealth Games. It is a game derived from basketball, a sport that has only appeared at the Games once, in Melbourne in 2006.
What to drink while watching
A crisp refreshing apple cider is the perfect accompaniment to watching a game, whether it’s simply sparkling juice or something slightly harder.
This article was first published on the Tenplay website here.
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