New Zealand’s Silver Ferns clinch the Constellation Cup, smashing Australia’s Diamonds 61-43 in Perth, as it happened

An interesting night! It’s just been confirmed that a whopping 13,048 people turned out to game three at Perth Arena.

We expected a big crowd because we know West Australians love their netty, but in terms of the result … that was a surprise! Given the Diamonds track record on home soil.

Well done to the Silver Ferns on another epic performance. So curious to see what happens on Wednesday night. If the Diamonds are feeling fatigued, then we’re not sure they’ll be able to fix the issues in just three days between games. But let’s see how it all pans out!

Plus the Kelpies will be back playing a double header with the women’s. Looking forward to seeing them lift the Trans-Tasman Cup after they clinched the series 3-0 in Canberra yesterday.

Interesting that in the men’s it’s been a clean sweep so far for Australia and the same goes for New Zealand in the women’s! Just flipped results.

We’ll be back to live blog the final games at John Cain Arena in Melbourne on Wednesday. Catch you then.

Australian head coach Stacey Marinkovich has fronted the media after the loss and been honest about the Diamonds’ form.

“The gap between our best and our [worst] is too far. We took a step forward in this game in terms of energy in the first half, but it’s the unforced errors and repeated nature of that in close proximinity that sees us lose confidence and puts us in chase mode. Silver Ferns put pressure on us right across the court.”

Marinkovich said it has been a challenging series for her team as the current crop of Diamonds aren’t used to being in chase mode for such long periods in a game. That there was a lot of ‘perceived’ pressure impacting the players, as well as fatigue after playing a series against England and then having some time off before coming back into the Constellation Cup set-up.

Looking for positives, Marinkovich also said they need to keep their eyes on the bigger picture. Such as the Commonwealth Games in 2026 and the Netball World Cup in Sydney in 2027.

“We’re trying to get as much information as we can. This takes me back to my first Con Cup series in charge in 2021 and it’s about … when things don’t go your way … making sure you get as much information as possible so that you get your build right towards your marquee events.”

“As challenging as it is to see those scorelines, there’s a lot we’ve been able to take that are going to shape the direction of how we need to train, the strategies that we put in place, the way in which we refresh. I think that we are a bit mentally fatigued at the moment. There’s things within the program that I think we can freshen up. Players also need to be able to take accountability and we pride ourselves on our honesty and having those conversations and it’s something we’ll need to do.”

As you can imagine head coach Noeline Taurua is absolutely thrilled with her team’s performance:

“It’s been a long time between drinks. I’m elated. Beyond the win, the manner that we’re actually playing with and the level of performance and toughness that I’m seeing out there, and that wanting desire. We’ve talked about this for many a years, so to be able to see that and people demonstrate that out on court is next level. It’s beautiful netball. Stunning netball … Having a bit of passion, heart, backbone. It’s a cool story. For us to win here is confidence building and that scoreline is massive for us. We’re heading in the right direction.”

Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio says the biggest change in the team’s manner has been the way they treat each other on court and that extra support has proved to be a huge difference in the way they play.

“It was a really tough time for us, we felt super frustrated as a group. We just felt like we weren’t even scratching our full potential. We were hitting it at training but it wasn’t coming through in the games. So we needed to get really honest with each other and it was all about backing each other out there on court. We haven’t changed anything drastically on court. It’s just been the way that we’re treating each other that has been a big shift for us … I’ve never been in a position where we’ve won three in a row against Australia.”

Well, for New Zealand they can finally get some people off their back. They’ve been copping it for the past couple of years about their slipping standards and now they’ve shown against the world’s number one team that they still do have what it takes to match it with the best. Our only question would be how much of it comes back to Nweke?

As netball fans will know. Next year Nweke is headed to Australia to play in the Super Netball league in the Swifts red and blue dress. This means she sacrifices her Silver Ferns eligibilty to further her individual career.

When New Zealand lost Nweke to injury midway through the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town it was a nail in the coffin. They didn’t win a medal from there. So what happens in 2025 when Nweke isn’t around to spearhead that circle? She has played all 60 minutes of every game so far. It’s got them the result, but can their up-and-coming shooters fill her shoes once she’s gone for a solid 12 months?

Meanwhile for Australia, this is a bit of a shock. The last time they conceded the Constellation Cup was when they blooded a host of debutants and didn’t get to play a single game on their home turf. That was back in 2021 when the entire four-game series was hosted in New Zealand because of COVID restrictions. So to lose like this in front of a huge Perth crowd is a big deal.

We said at the beginning of our coverage that we liked the bold changes Marinkovich made for game three, but did she run too many untrialled combinations? Also running Price at centre alongside Dwyer in goal attack does feel a bit questionable, considering the Giants finished dead last in Super Netball this year. Part of the reason is that they couldn’t get their attacking combos right. Plenty to think about for the head coach ahead of game four. It’s just the second series the team has lost since she took over in 2020.

I’ve just gone back to double check. The officials got it right, it was supposed to be a NZ centre pass to start the third quarter. The Diamonds had the last centre pass of the second period, where Dwyer missed a shot.

Assistant coach Nicole Richardson was spotted chatting with the umpires and bench before they started the third quarter because she believed it was Diamonds ball. But not sure why she got confused, because it was New Zealand’s fair and square.

Agree with you though that the Diamonds are in disarray. They were heavy favourites leading into this series and there hasn’t been a single player other than Jamie-Lee Price that I can think of that has really tried to fight their way back into the contest. They have looked like a different team these past three games. Seriously concerning. Not the way they’d like to finish 2024.

Seems there’s a bit of work to do to get this line-up ready for a Commonwealth Games and home World Cup without the likes of Steph Fretwell or Ash Brazill in the mix. Now those players have retired it seems Australia needs to find it’s way again. Particuarly in the shooting circle. And when a player like Kiera Austin has excelled all year in the Super Netball league, but now can’t execute for the Diamonds. We have to question what’s impacted her preparation?

We mentioned already that this is the third time the Silver Ferns have ever won the Constellation Cup, but they’ve never been able to win it on Australian soil until now. What an effort!

To be honest, statistics read very similar to the way they did at half-time. The Diamonds had way too many penalties 64 and as a result, stood out of play spectating the game rather than winning back the ball. The Silver Ferns did a wonderful job of keeping off the body and staying effective in defence.

However there is a huge difference here on the gain to goal rate. In the first 30 minutes, the Diamonds were converting 75 per cent of their defensive efforts and the Silver Ferns were at just 43 per cent. It’s almost the total opposite by the end of the 60 minutes. Showing how much ball the Aussies threw away towards the end and just how clinical the visitors were to finish.

The Diamonds accuracy slipped to 78 per cent as well. New Zealand remaind composed under the post to remain in the 90s percentile. Grace Nweke finishing as the highest scoring player on court with 47 goals.

Thanks for following along Natty! Nice to see a different storyline though, as the Silver Ferns get a rare chance to lift the trophy.

The wing defence forced the Australian captain to the bench for the second time in as many games. What an effort from Heffernan! One gain, three pick-ups. She contributed a lot in attack too! Tallying 20 centre pass recieves, five second-phase recieves, six feeds and five goal assists. That’s a huge workload for a player that can’t even enter her team’s goal third!

For just the third time in Constellation Cup history, the Silver Ferns have got their hands on the trophy. They’ve cleanswept the Diamonds 3-0 and locked in the result they were after with one more game still left to play.

Don’t forget this team dropped from second to third on the world rankings just last week. They lost to the England Roses 2-1 in the lead-up to this series. What a remarkable way to respond and show the world they deserve to be in the top two in the world. They may have missed the podium altogether at the recent Netball World Cup but there’s still fight in them yet.

SCORE: 61-43 New Zealand’s way

Nweke has been mentioned like a 100 times in this blog already, and rightly so! But she can’t star at goal shooter without a clinical goal attacker outfront. The Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio has gone about her business in this game with little fanfare. But her work to draw the defenders way out of the circle to create a one-on-one for Nweke with the Aussie goal keeper under the post has done wonders. She’s also put up the shots when Nweke has been double tagged and unable to get free. Brilliant accuracy and some beautiful cuts and drives in the goal third. Deserves her flowers too.

Diamonds captain Watson has been spotted on the bench. With the game looking pretty much out of reach, to say she looks deflated is an understatement. This loss is going to hurt the team big time.

With just under six minutes left in the game, there’s a fair bit of niggle creeping into the match. The Diamonds are frustrated and the Silver Ferns are not taking the foot on the pedal. Some of the pushing is getting picked up by the umpires.

SCORE: 54-40 New Zealand’s way

With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Marinkovich makes a desperate change, swapping Garbin for Cara Koenen. This is an important moment for Koenen, who was previously the Diamonds’ favoured starting goal shooter but has been overtaken by Garbin recently in that department. Here’s her opportunity to show Marinkovich she’s still got what it takes.

Sophie Garbin leaps into the air to take a feed high, before landing right on the baseline. The throw-in goes New Zealand’s way. The Diamonds are handing it right back to them!

Kelly Jackson has come flying out of the circle to intercept a pass Price intended for Dwyer. That was way too obvious from the Diamonds but credit where credit is due, Jackson read that beautifully. Her team reward her efforts and the kiwis hit the big five zero.

SCORE: 50-38 New Zealand’s way

A long feed sent in by Horjus almost went out of court, luckily Garbin has the skills to keep it in court, tapping it to her teammate in the pocket as she found her balance on the baseline. Aussies convert first in the final quarter. Is it time to bring the experience of a Watson back on court? Or do we persist with the fresher legs of Horjus?

SCORE: 46-35 New Zealand’s way

A huge third quarter for New Zealand has put them in the box seat to win this third Constellation Cup game. Don’t forget, if the Siver Ferns win here, they’ll win the trophy for just the third time in 14 series. They last held it in 2021.

In that 15-minute period they doubled the Diamonds score, 18-9. This is very unlike the Australian team. We’re expecting a fightback in this final quarter to come. What has Marinkovich got left up her sleeve?

SCORE: 46-35 New Zealand’s way

Grace Nweke has just missed her first goal of the game with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. She’s gone almost 45 minutes without a blemish under the post. 34 goals secured for her team so far. That’s impressive!

The NSW Swifts must be licking their lips! As she’ll join their Super Netball ranks for season 2025.

The Diamonds have made a range of errors in this third quarter. Six turnovers in fact and the Silver Ferns are punishing that lacklustre play. Nweke nails five straight shots and the margin is blowing out heavily in the visitor’s favour. There’s five minutes left until the final break.

SCORE: 41-30 New Zealand’s way