I took my family out to the Allphones Arena on Sunday to see the Netball World Cup. It was the first time I had watched a game of professional netball in my long years of following sport.
Unfortunately, it was also the first time the Australian Diamonds had lost in two years, or 21 matches. They went down to New Zealand’s Silver Ferns.
The game was a gripping encounter, and I’m pleased to report I’m now a convert to professional netball.
It is a fantastic sport for spectators. The skill, speed, guts and athleticism offer what all compelling sports offer to the average punter and backyard sports hero: a glimpse into the near impossible.
All the players shot, moved, pre-empted, and passed with breathtaking skill.
Netball has never really filled the centre of my sporting radar. Rugby, cricket, the odd game of NRL, every game of the State of Origin series, and the occasional tennis major – these sports filled my allocated hours to sport.
While bulging in my youth, over the years as my family has grown, I’ve had fewer and fewer hours to put into playing and watching sport. The beneficiary of these weekend-weighted hours had been my family, and my two young daughters in particular.
So when my eight-year-old daughter started playing netball this year, it was with great enthusiasm I ambled along the sideline on Saturday afternoons at our local courts.
Parents, she assures me, shouldn’t yell out from the sidelines. So I stifled encouragement as I watching her with pride bobbing on the spot, marking her opponent with fierce determination but polite outcomes.
Only rarely does she manage an intercept. Most rare of all is a goal. But of course it doesn’t matter in the slightest to the players. They just love the team song at the end, the joy of playing together, and the oranges at halftime.
It’s participation sport as its best – and netball is the perfect vehicle for it. And I was a big fan of what I saw.
So I was not-so-quietly excited as I took the family out to see the Australian Diamonds.
The atmosphere was electric, admittedly in front of a record crowd for any netball event of 16,233.
What I observed – from a novice’s perspective – was a New Zealand team that won the contests more often where it mattered: at the ends of the court.
The Ferns’ goal attack, Maria Tutaia, was a standout. I knew within minutes she was an exceptional athlete.
She sunk goals at will, mostly from deep in the attacking court. And while her record was 34/48, the 48 goals seemed mostly to be outside shots which, if they tried to work closer to the net, would have had substantially fewer shots at goal.
The Ferns’ defence also did a better job of shutting down the much-vaunted attack of the Diamonds. In particular Caitlin Bassett, 38/43, seemed outmuscled and gun-shy; my surprise at her inability to secure attacking positions was backed up by the informed group behind me who educated me with their running dialogue of the match.
They were exasperated with her reluctance to shoot as a shooter should, instead looking for passbooks and better positions on the court.
Long-time star Nat Medhurst was off her game and it was clear Australia struggled to transition to attacking positions crisply.
And although it was the Diamonds’ first loss in an age, to me it barely mattered. As a first-time watcher, I was too busy keeping up with the exhilarating play.
I’m already looking forward to the many hours I’ll spend watching this under-reported and under-rated game, at this Netball World Cup and beyond.
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