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England netball star Geva Mentor is convinced her team believes it can finally beat Australia as she prepares to return to her “second home” for tomorrow night’s Test in Adelaide.
Defender Mentor, who starred for Adelaide in the recent inaugural ANZ Championship, will be part of an England team striving to break a lengthy losing record against Australia.
Last Saturday night’s 42-39 defeat in Newcastle was England’s 36th straight loss to Australia.
England’s only victory in 48 Tests against Australia was 27 years ago.
They were behind for the majority of last Saturday’s Test, but twice drew level in the final quarter, before Australia squeaked home at the end.
“I think the belief is there, it’s just knowing how to win,” Mentor said today.
“It’s two different things, wanting to win and knowing how to win.”
Australian coach Norma Plummer, who will chalk up her 50th game in the position tomorrow, said her team was so successful because it was “a team that chooses to win”.
Despite being without most of their world championship winning starting side from last year, Australia has recorded recent wins over much more experienced England and New Zealand lineups.
“We do have that belief that we can win always, it doesn’t matter if there’s juniors coming into the team or the senior players that are there,” Plummer said.
“It’s a culture that’s passed on all the time.”
Plummer said she was likely to stick pretty close to the side which started last Saturday.
She said the only fitness scare she had was with defender Laura Geitz, who was isolated for a couple of days after she suffered some vomiting and diarrhoea.
“She was back on court today and had a couple of days out, but she’s fine,” Plummer said of Geitz.
She said there was “every possibility” of some playing time tomorrow for Geitz and shooter Caitlin Bassett, each of whom made her Test debut last Saturday.
Mentor said it was good to be back in Adelaide and she had been “a bit of a tour guide” to her team mates this week.
She played on her Adelaide teammate Kate Beveridge last Saturday and said that added a little bit more spice to the match.
“It was a good game against Kate, I felt I played pretty average and I want to step it up more,” said Mentor who was in negotiations with Adelaide about rejoining them next year.
She said she really liked the way England’s new Australian-born coach Sue Hawkins was working and believed she would “do wonders for this England side.”