‘Don’t want to think about it’: Netball greats fret over Diamonds’ future
Australian netball has been exposed on the world stage this year, leaving several greats of the game wondering where the next generation of stars will push through to rebuild an ageing team.
A 0-2 start to the Constellation Cup series has cast a cloud over the Diamonds, leaving them with a shaky grip on the world No.1 ranking, and 72 hours to find an answer if they’re to stop the Silver Ferns taking it from them.
The Diamonds lost 62-50 in game two of the Constellation Cup. Getty Images
Twelve months ago, New Zealand were troubled by internal dramas and on-court distress. In 2024, the team also failed to make the Netball Nations Cup in what many believed was the first worrying sign for netball’s other powerhouse nation.
But a gold medal victory at the Commonwealth Games sent a clear message to the world that those hard times were over, with the attention turning to Australia after they failed to make the tournament final for the first time in its history.
The Diamonds managed to secure bronze in Glasgow, but netball greats are worried by the lack of youth emerging at the top level.
“It’s a really hard one ... but it’s whether or not we are willing to lose the games to make sure we’re developing players (with a) World Cup coming up really soon – but we don’t have any other time to do it but now,” Kim Green, a former Diamonds captain, said on Fox Sports.
“(Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich) is in between a rock and hard place in the fact that she has to make the changes. Do you stick with them long enough… but how else do they build confidence and build combinations if they are not out there?
“They should have done this a couple of years ago.”
Of the starting line up that took to the court in game two, only Georgie Horjus and Jessie Grenvold are below the age of 25. Sophie Dwyer is the only other member of the Constellation Cup squad who is also under 25.
The experience of veteran players has long kept Australia on top of the world, but that now seemingly will not be enough to defeat the Silver Ferns.
Cat Tuivaiti, a Silver Ferns great, believes the Commonwealth Games was the first major showing of the “demise of Australian netball”.
“We saw that change of the guard,” she told Green.
“So many crazy things happened and it came at the demise of Australian netball – but netball itself internationally is getting juicier to watch.
“Australia can take their hats off and say ‘yeah, we had a part of that. We’re bringing them all here (to Suncorp Super Netball)’. It’s way more exciting.”
Catherine Cox was unsettled when hearing that view of the Diamonds, but Green reiterated all Australians should be concerned about the future of the team.
Green pointed to the places each Diamonds’ player held within their club team, with Cara Koenen and Donnell Wallam both fighting for game time at shooter with the Sunshine Coast Lightning over the 2026 season.
Koenen has moved to the Firebirds for 2027, meaning the door is now open for her, Wallam and Sophie Garbin to push their case to be Australia’s goal shooter.
All three, however, have spent years in and out of the international scene, with Lucy Austin the most recent young star given the chance to grab that spot.
Yet Austin failed to secure a full-time deal for the 2027 season, inking a training partner deal with the Melbourne Mavericks, where she may not be needed.
“What is next when Garbin’s not there? When Koenen’s not there? What is actually next?” Green said after dissecting Australia’s shooting squad.
“That is a concern.”
Kiera Austin, 29, and Sophie Garbin, 29, have been Australia’s go-to shooting combination in recent matches. Getty Images
Cox replied: “It is a concern and I don’t really want to think about it just yet.”
As for the defenders, Green was concerned by the fact there were no primary goal defenders in the team beyond Joe Weston and Sunday Aryang.
Aryang, 25, is likely to remain as Australia’s goal defence when the changing of the guard happens, given she is an established part of the team, having already recorded 34 caps.
Weston, 32, withdrew from the Constellation Cup to manage her fitness.
Matilda Garrett has been on the bench, has had limited minutes on the court and is yet to link up with the in-form Grenvold in the circle in this series.
Tuivaiti praised Grenvold for helping shut down Silver Ferns shooting superstar Grace Nweke, but added that she needs support from a goal defence.
“If that ball is in the air, Grace Nweke is probably going to get it. But Jessie Grenvold, I think she was the best one at contesting that ball in the air,” she said.
“That’s all you really can do.”
Green suggested that Marinkovich look to Aryang’s sister, Ruth, 22, as a next young talent to blood, but that cannot happen until the next squad is unveiled.
With no Test matches locked in between the Constellation Cup and the World Cup, the final auditions outside club games are now.
But even at club level the rise of the next generation has been questioned due to the rising number of imports coming to play in the “world’s best competition”.
Of the 48 spots, including the bench, available for shooters and defenders in the SSN, 45 per cent are taken by international stars.
The other 55 per cent of those positions are made up by a solid mix of veterans and young players, but talent like Austin are still struggling to push through.
West Coast Fever’s premiership-winning coach Dan Ryan made clear that regardless of a player’s nationality, they will be picked if they are “deserving of a contract”.
Still, something needs to change for the Diamonds soon.
Marinkovich will on Saturday name her game three squad in a bid to keep the Constellation Cup alive in Sunday’s game three.
