Australia national netball team

Australia
Nickname(s) Diamonds
Association Netball Australia
Head coach Lisa Alexander
Captain Sharni Layton
Most caps Liz Ellis (122)
INF ranking 1
Team colours
Alternate
First international
Australia  40 – 11  New Zealand
Melbourne, 1938
Largest win
Australia  113 - 12  Singapore
Sydney, 1991
Largest defeat
New Zealand  61 - 36  Australia
Auckland, 2005
World Championships
2015 placing First
Titles won 11
Commonwealth Games
2014 placing First
Best result First (1998, 2002, 2014)

The Australia National Netball Team, commonly known as the Australian Netball Diamonds, represent Australia in international netball tests and competitions. The team was formed in 1938 and played in the first international game of netball against New Zealand. In 2008 the team adopted the nickname "Diamonds" in line with other Australian sporting teams, including the national women's basketball team, the Opals.

Australia have traditionally been regarded as the most successful netball team in international netball: they have won ten of the thirteen World Netball Championships, in addition to being the current world champions and ranked first in the INF World Rankings. The Diamonds compete annually in a home-and-away test series, the Constellation Cup, with perennial rivals New Zealand. Regular test matches are also held with other major netball countries, including England and Jamaica. To date, Australia have won ten World Championships and three Commonwealth Games events.The Australian diamonds won the 2015 trophy in Sydney, New South Wales .

The Diamonds are administered by Netball Australia, the national governing body for netball in the country. Players are usually selected from Australian ANZ Championship franchises. The team are presently captained by Queensland Firebirds defender Laura Geitz. Lisa Alexander was appointed head coach in August 2011, taking over from Norma Plummer.

History

Australia and England during a test match in 2008.

While they remain amongst the world's very best, they have come under increasing challenge from New Zealand's national team, the Silver Ferns, in recent years. New Zealand won the 2006 Commonwealth Games final and the grand final of the 2003 World Netball Championships, which saw Australia lose the top world ranking. However, Australia regained their status as world champions after winning the 2007 World Netball Championships.

Historically, the Australian team has had an edge over perennial rivals New Zealand, as posting 54 victories, as opposed to New Zealand's 36 out of the 90 tests they have played (as at October 2008), including two matches ending in a draw.

On 8 September 2008, Netball Australia launched officially nam the national team the Australian Netball Diamonds.[1] Continuing the trend set by the Australian women's basketball team, the Opals, Netball Australia made the announcement and described it as a milestone event in the sport's 80-year history in Australia.

Australia won the 2011 World Netball Championships on 10 July 2011 when the team defeated New Zealand 58–57 overtime, giving them their tenth world championship.[2]

Competitive record

Netball World Cup
Year Championship Location Placing
1963 1st World Championships Eastbourne, England 1st
1967 2nd World Championships Perth, Australia 2nd
1971 3rd World Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st
1975 4th World Championships Auckland, New Zealand 1st
1979 5th World Championships Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago Joint 1st
1983 6th World Championships Singapore 1st
1987 7th World Championships Glasgow, Scotland Joint 2nd
1991 8th World Championships Sydney, Australia 1st
1995 9th World Championships Birmingham, England 1st
1999 10th World Championships Christchurch, New Zealand 1st
2003 11th World Championships Kingston, Jamaica 2nd
2007 12th World Championships Auckland, New Zealand 1st
2011 13th World Championships Singapore 1st
2015 14th World Cup Sydney, Australia 1st
2019 15th World Cup Liverpool, England
Netball at the Commonwealth Games
Year Games Event Location Placing
1998 XVI Games 1st Netball Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st
2002 XVII Games 2nd Netball Manchester, England 1st
2006 XVIII Games 3rd Netball Melbourne, Australia 2nd
2010 XIX Games 4th Netball Delhi, India 2nd
2014 XX Games 5th Netball Glasgow, Scotland 1st
Netball at the World Games
Year Games Event Location Placing
1985 2nd World Games 1st Netball London, England 2nd
1989 3rd World Games 2nd Netball Karlsruhe, Germany 2nd
1993 4th World Games 3rd Netball The Hague, Netherlands 1st

Fast5 (formerly Fastnet)

Australia has competed in all six World Netball Series. The first series saw Australia's side all Diamond test players. Since the second series the fastnet/fast5 Australian team has contained both youthful and experienced players normally those just missing or not ready for Diamonds selection yet. Australia's Fast5 team is called the Fast5 Flyers.[3]

World Netball Series
Year Tournament Location Placing
2009 1st World Series Manchester, England 3rd
2010 2nd World Series Liverpool, England 4th
2011 3rd World Series Liverpool, England 3rd
2012 4th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 6th
2013 5th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 2nd
2014 6th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 2nd
2016 7th World Series Melbourne, Australia 2nd

Players

2017 Diamonds Squad

Name Positions 2017 Suncorp Super Netball Team
Caitlin Bassett GS Sunshine Coast Lightning
April Brandley GD, GK Collingwood Magpies
Courtney Bruce GK, GD West Coast Fever
Paige Hadley C, WA New South Wales Swifts
Sharni

Layton

 GK, GD Collingwood Magpies
Kristiana Manu'a GD, GK GWS Giants
Clare McMeniman GD, WD Retired
Laura Geitz

(c)

 GKQueensland

Firebirds

Caitlyn Nevins WA, C Queensland Firebirds
Susan Pettitt GA, GS GWS Giants
Kim Ravaillion C, WA, WD Collingwood Magpies
Madison Robinson WA, C Collingwood Magpies
Gabrielle Simpson WD, C, GD Queensland Firebirds
Caitlin Thwaites GS Collingwood Magpies
Gretel Tippett GA, WA, GS Queensland Firebirds
Elizabeth Watson C, WA Melbourne Vixens
Joanna Weston GD, GK, WD Melbourne Vixens
Stephanie Wood GA, GS Sunshine Coast Lightning

Notable past players

Most-capped Australian netballers

Name Test Caps State Test Team Years
Liz Ellis 122 NSW 1993–2007
Sharelle McMahon 118 VIC 1998–2011
Catherine Cox 108 NSW 1997, 2000–2013
Vicki Wilson 104 QLD 1985–1999
Kathryn Harby-Williams 94 SA 1990, 1992–2003
Carissa Tombs 91 NSW 1989–1999
Natalie Medhurst* 86 SA 2007–Present
Michelle den Dekker 84 SA 1985–1986, 1988–1995
Shelley O'Donnell 80 VIC 1990–1999
Natalie von Bertouch 76 SA 2004–2013
Kimberlee Green 74 NSW 2008–2015
Laura Geitz 64 QLD 2008–2015

Kit suppliers

Australia's kits are currently supplied by 2xu

Home Courts

The Australian diamonds use many different home courts around Australia. The courts they currently use are:

Venue Capacity City
Qudos Bank Arena 18,200 Sydney
Perth Arena 14,846 Perth
Brisbane Entertainment Centre 11,000 Brisbane
Adelaide Entertainment Centre 10,500 Adelaide
Hisense Arena 10,500 Melbourne
AIS Arena 5,200 Canberra

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lulham, Amanda (9 September 2008). "Our girl's dazzling new look". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Rookie steals netball glory for Australia". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  3. ↑ http://netball.com.au/team/australian-fast5-flyers/
  4. ↑ http://www.firebirds.net.au/our-team/management-team/
  5. ↑ http://netball.com.au/thunderbirds-appoint-den-dekker-new-coach/
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