Netball World Cup 2015 final match review: Australia v. New Zealand at Sydney

The final of the 2015 confirmed, after an early-tournament glitch, Australian supremacy in the world of netball. The final margin flattered the visitors as the hosts’ Magnificent Seven scored their third consecutive world title.

The first quarter was all about Laura Geitz. The Girl from Ipswich played an absolute blinder: intercepting bulleted passes, blocking shots, whacking loose balls over the sideline. Australia led 9-4 at a mid-quarter timeout. Maria Tutaia’s early performance was lacklustre, and the Diamonds went into the first break leading 16-7.

In the second quarter, Geitz continued to neutralise Tutaia, and Renae Hallinan also got into the defensive act. A 25-13 gialloverdi lead was reduced to 25-15 when Tutaia began to get her groove back with a brace of long-range goals. Late in the term, a Kiwi charge narrowed the margin to eight goals; Bailey Mes was more active in attack and relieved some of the pressure on Tutaia.

With the home side cruising, it was up to the Silver Ferns’ goal keeper Casey Kopua to blunt their cascading offence. Her blocked shot and loose ball pick-up gave her team hope, and a see-sawing third quarter witnessed them move to within four goals of the Australians. This was followed by another Diamonds’ onslaught, the home side earning a 43-37 lead at the final change.

With Geitz and the retiring Julie Corletto forming a solid partnership at the back throughout the match (there was no court time for Sharni Layton, this blog’s equal favourite female sportsperson alongside Ellyse Perry), the Silver Ferns found it impossible to put together that string of consecutive scores necessary to pare back the Aussies’ lead. The hosts were happy to trade goals with their opponents for the middle chunk of the last quarter, retaining their six-goal advantage until Natalie Medhurst broke the rhythm in the eighth minute.

With a 52-44 lead at the ensuing timeout, and with Medhurst and shooting partner Caitlin Bassett proving difficult to stop, the Kiwis had little chance of clawing their way back. With one minute and eight seconds left in the match, the score was 57-54, but any potential New Zealand fightback was blocked by the Diamonds’ skill in closing down the game. Though Medhurst would miss her final shot, it proved academic, as the curtain closed on an entertaining tournament, though one predictably dominated by the sport’s ‘Big Four’.

Australia 58 (Caitlin Bassett 48/51; Natalie Medhurst 10/13) – New Zealand 55 (Maria Tutaia 38/53; Bailey Mes 17/22)

Netball World Cup 2015 Group F match review: Australia v. England at Sydney

Australia began the second group stage with an easy ten-point win over the Auld Enemy. The teams traded blows before England were the first to break the cycle in the ninth minute. The Diamonds responded, however, and not even a spectacular coast-to-coast pass by Eboni Beckford-Chambers to goal shooter Jo Harten could stem the yellow and green tide.

With a 12-9 lead at the first change, the hosts began to tighten the screws; Renae Hallinan and Julie Corletto were particularly active, the latter notching her fiftieth test cap and bumping Sharni Layton from the starting seven. Caitlin Bassett continued to be reliable up front, helping Australia to a 25-20 advantage after a statistically even first half.

Goal attack Natalie Medhurst was the star of the third quarter, crumbing loose balls in the forward line like a female Cyril Rioli. England brought on pint-sized goal attack Helen Housby, who was no match for the solid gialloverdi defence, and the margin sat on eight goals for most of the term.

With the match in the bag, Bassett could be subbed off for her fellow Caitlin, Thwaites. Laura Geitz, with “eyes only for the ball” as commentator Liz Ellis is fond of saying, laid a good old-fashioned shirtfront on English centre Jade Clarke in what was the most eventful moment of an uneventful final quarter. The ill-disciplined and physically out-muscled inglesas should be no match for the Silver Ferns in the semi-finals.

Australia 51 (Caitlin Bassett 28/32; Natalie Medhurst 14/18; Caitlin Thwaites 9/13) – England 41 (Jo Harten 30/33; Helen Housby 6/9; Pam Cookey 5/6)

Netball World Cup 2015 Group A match review: Australia v. New Zealand at Sydney

The organisers having rigged the draw so that the top two seeds would meet in the group stage, the fortunes of the 2015 Netball World Cup rested on this match, which would decide the vexed question of who plays England in the second group stage.

Like so many trans-Tasman superclásicos before, it began with the rivals trading goals: nine minutes in, Caitlin Bassett and Maria Tutaia had propelled their teams to seven goals apiece. The Silver Ferns were the first to go two up, as a brace from Tutaia gave them an 11-9 lead in the twelfth minute. The visitors went into the first break ahead 15-12, with captain Laura Geitz the standout first-quarter performer among the Aussies.

A swift fightback from the Diamonds levelled the scores within a minute of the break, and a further deadlock was broken in the seventh minute when Julie Corletto, on at goal defence replacing Sharni Layton, blocked a shooting circle-bound pass and recovered to launch the counter-attack. Four minutes later, a time-out was called with the Maorilanders up 24-22, Australian coach Lisa Alexander telling her shooters that “you two need to tighten up down there”. A wild and uncharacteristic miss from Bassett helped extend the margin to four goals, and despite dominating the final few minutes of the half, i gialloverdi went into the long break down 26-29.

There was another re-shuffle at the back, Layton returning to goal defence and Corletto moving to wing defence, but the Diamonds just Couldn’t Solve A Problem Like Maria. The match-winning performance from the Kiwi goal attack continued, who led the charge as the visitors took an eight-goal lead mid-way through the term, and they rewarded for their third-quarter superiority with a 40-34 lead at the final change.

The momentum shifted numerous times early in the fourth quarter, and the women in black led 45-42 at a mid-quarter time-out, then 48-42 when a second time-out was called a few minutes later. The Australian defence finally began to isolate Tutaia but this only gave goal shooter Bailey Mes the chance to take control. 52-47 was the final score.

Aside from a few flashes of tenacity by Geitz and Corletto, and some generally accurate shooting from Bassett, Australia’s performance was rather insipid. The pressure and intensity weren’t there; Layton, whose rise has been one of the revelations of Australian sport in recent times, looked decidedly out-of-position at goal defence. They will need to shift gears if they are to start looking like a World Cup-winning combination.

Australia 47 (Caitlin Bassett 38/43; Natalie Medhurst 6/7; Erin Bell 3/7) – New Zealand 52 (Maria Tutaia 34/48; Bailey Mes 18/21)