Diamonds brace for fiercest home challenge

Less than 20 months before the start of the Netball World Cup Sydney 2027, the first batch of coveted invitations to the sport’s main event are in the mail. 

Based on the World Netball World Rankings update on December 1, host nation Australia is followed by New Zealand among the same top six as four years ago in Cape Town, with just one tweak to the order as Jamaica replace England as world No.3. 

Uganda completes the group behind South Africa, the She Cranes having pipped Wales for sixth through an undefeated Celtic Cup campaign that left the Feathers to book their entry through the five Regional Qualifiers in 2026 that will decide the remaining 10 spots. 

So who is best placed to upstage the Origin Diamonds at home, where they have lost just one Test post-Covid? 

Indeed, as Sydney prepares to host for an unprecedented third time what was originally badged as the World Tournament, then the World Championships, and is now the Netball World Cup, the 12-time champions will be seeking to extend their perfect record in the Harbour City (having been pipped by New Zealand in Perth in 1967). 

Triumphant in both 1991 (in a famous one-goal thriller against the Silver Ferns) and 2015 (a 58-55 victory after a sizzling start over the same rival before a world record netball crowd of 16,752), Australia looms as the logical early favourite, but not overwhelmingly so, in an era of increased global parity and a peloton determined to close the gap.  

Still, the Diamonds currently hold every major trophy after this year regaining the Constellation Cup. They are fit, fast and strong. Slick ball-movers known for suffocating one-on-one defence. 

Seasoned head coach Stacey Marinkovich has a stable and vastly experienced core group of unmatched depth, with some youthful verve (see Georgie Horjus) emerging to balance a few of the older legs. 

A moving circle contains multiple options, but the preferred Sophie Garbin-Kiera Austin combination that continues to be honed at club level for the Melbourne Vixens has been internationally successful as well.  

In front of up to 18,000 fans at Qudos Bank Arena, it will take a mighty effort to topple the Diamonds, who have never finished lower than second, are proven performers under pressure and have a proud winning culture on which to draw. 

The second-ranked Silver Ferns mounted a huge challenge against the Diamonds as recently as October, when the latest Constellation Cup was decided during extra time of the fourth Test. A testament to a trans-Tasman rivalry that not just endures, but continues to thrive. 

Employing their trademark press while utilising some positional tweaks under caretaker Yvette McCausland-Durie, the Ferns are bookended by superstar shooter Grace Nweke and rangy keeper Kelly Jackson, linked by midcourt duo Maddy Gordon and Kate Heffernan and well-served by GD/WD Karin Burger. 

Selection availability - indeed, just selection generally - will be fascinating, given that previous captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio and key defender Jane Watson were among those to sit out this year’s internationals.  

Yet let’s not forget that the only country to break the Diamonds’ Netball World Cup stranglehold since the three-way tie with Trinidad and Tobago under the old round-robin format in 1979 enjoyed a stunning success in Liverpool just six years ago to take home world title No.5. 

And expect the fact that eight more Kiwis will join Swifts’ spearhead Nweke in Suncorp Super Netball in 2026 to have a positive impact on a group that has had limited exposure to some of the world’s best international netballers.  compared with Jamaica, for example. 

Ah, yes, the Jamaicans,  the regular minor medallists (claiming both silver and bronze at recent major tournaments) who are considered international underachievers by some, given the outstanding quality of their back court and the dominating shooting presence of Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. 

Still, the stash of bronze combined with an historic silver from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games support the case that the Sunshine Girls are big-time contenders for every title and will be right in the mix for this one. 

Athletic, aerial and aggressive on defence, they boast many players in international leagues, including seven SSN incumbents headed by serial MVP Fowler-Nembhard (who will nevertheless be 38 when the first NWC27 whistle is blown) and brilliant Adelaide Thunderbirds duo Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (set to return from parental leave), plus Jodi-Ann Ward (due back in 2026 from an ACL rupture), Shimona Jok, Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Shanice Beckford. 

Sometimes described as the Third Force behind the trans-Tasman perennials, yet with the natural talent and flair to be the Top Dogs, the Sunshine Girls can be both unpredictable and high risk while well-served by the absolute and enduring focus on aerial feeds into Fowler-Nembhard. 

Despite resourcing challenges limiting their Test exposure, with the just-announced matches against the Diamonds in February the first stand-alone series between the two powerhouse nations since 2011, anything is possible when the Jamaicans are at their best. Yes, we’ve said it before, but, still, their time might be now. 

England, in contrast, does know what victory at a pinnacle event feels like - their shock defeat of the Diamonds in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medal match trumping the Roses’ world title runners-up status from 1975 and 2023. 

Generational change has occurred since that last silver, through the retirements of stalwarts such as Geva Mentor, Jo Harten and Jade Clarke, leaving the nerveless nous of goal attack Helen Housby heading four genuine shooting options and newish/older defenders Funmi Fadoju and Fran Williams among the other frontliners in red. 

With their most recent Netball World Cup peak - which included a semi-final defeat of the Ferns and an historic win against the Diamonds in the group stage - still visible in the rear-view mirror, there should be confidence to match the credibility gained ahead of another home Commonwealth Games next year to bury the ghosts of a disappointing campaign in Birmingham, 2022. 

The South Africans, meantime, have retained a top five slot despite slipping to sixth while hosting the continent’s first Netball World Cup, with fourth in Liverpool in 2019 equalling their best result since claiming silver on their post-Apartheid return from exile in 1995. 

The Proteas, with promising young shooter Elmere van der Berg also set to benefit from upcoming SSN exposure with the T-birds and Nicola Smith, Sanmarie Visser, Shadine van der Merwe and Rolene Strueker part of a solid representation in the UK Netball Superleague, have shown they can hang with the Big Four for large parts of matches (only to be let down by a costly poor quarter), and pull off the occasional upset. 

Even with help from the injury gods and more frugality with turnovers, a podium finish is unlikely, but not unthinkable; South Africa having come oh-so-close in 2019 with a mix of the domestically-based and experienced overseas professionals. 

Near neighbour Uganda, meanwhile, is one of the sport’s notable improvers, having only competed at one world championship (for a modest 13th place on debut in 1979) before becoming a regular in 2015. 

Eighth in Sydney became seventh in 2019, before a breakthrough fifth place four years to match their 2022 Commonwealth Games result. 

So a clear trajectory. 

Up. 

With greater funding support and access to stronger competition both near and far, impressive composure in tight finishes against similarly-ranked rivals, and towering Mary Cholhok as a focal point, the She Cranes are earning the respect of those ranked above them and could be a bolter come semi-final time.