The crazy Diamonds expect to win. You can see it, feel it, taste it. Shine on. They’re fast, confident, feisty, instinctive, aggressive. Smashing England and relentlessly knocking Eleanor Cardwell on her backside while exuding the powerful and palpable aura of the best and toughest team on the planet.
Netball is in the big house at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The Hydro is where the stage for the jaw-dropping, showstopping, earth-quaking, booty-shaking opening ceremony was ripped up and swiftly replaced by a brand-spankin’ netball court.
Captain Liz Watson’s team is competing in the best entertainment venue in town while hanging out for the International Olympic Committee’s decision on whether they’ll get a run at the Brisbane Olympics.
“It will mean everything to us if we’re included for 2032,” says coach Stacey Marinkovich. “We’re in the bid and we’re down to the final few. We’ve put a big case forward. Leadership, women, community – it’s not just about what happens on the court. It’s about connection to the Australian public and potentially, to the world.
“We epitomise the Olympic values. It’s just about being given the chance to showcase it in Brisbane. It’d be huge for the Diamonds, and our sport. When more people see what the sport is like – Americans are starting to get into it – the appreciation will continue to grow and grow and grow.”
The Diamonds are filling The Hydro’s 14,300 seats and it’s only 11am. I haven’t watched much netball. I need to do it more. This is bloody great. Watson is the wing attack and chief playmaker. She does everything Nathan Cleary does as puppeteer except kick 40/20s.
The Australians beat England 66-47 with hands quick enough for a game of hot potato. For a non-contact sport, there’s a heck of a lot of contact. Pushing, shoving, dropped shoulders, elbows to the ribs. These are tough, talented young women.
Cardwell tries to intimidate. She’s knocked down so often we might have to drag her out. Fluorescent yellow singlets add to the impression of the Diamonds’ blazing speed. Bodies are constantly in motion. The background music is the sound of shoes squeaking on the floor. It’s action-packed, end-to-end, extremely watchable.
“That was fierce and ferocious and it started to get a bit narky at the end,” Marinkovich said. “The thing with the Diamonds is, we want to take everyone on the journey with us. We want to be engaging. We want people to know and understand our story.”
What’s the story, morning (11am) glory? “As soon as you put a Diamonds uniform on, there’s an expectation of gold medals. The Australian netball team doesn’t get gifted anything. We’re the world No.1 and everyone wants to beat us.
“There’s a legacy of excellence and success in this uniform. Every new generation has to contribute to that and make sure it continues. We have a deep-seated connection to the successes of the past. Each new group and generation inherits the world No.1 ranking and then has the responsibility to maintain and evolve and enhance it.”
Excellence. That’s what you see, feel, taste. Sheer excellence. Goal shooter Sophie Garbin, well, shoots a lot of goals. Raised in Western Australia’s famous old gold-medal, sorry, goldmining town of Kalgoorlie, she’s all over England defender Francesca Williams like a cheap frock.
At 184cm, with a strong, powerful, superwoman frame, she takes high, one-handed passes with just centimetres to spare to the back line. Then gets on her tiptoes to land 41 of Australia’s points as effortlessly as she might pluck an apple from a tree.
Shoot. Score. Repeat. How do you like them apples? She’s given a breather when the Diamonds have romped to an unbeatable 23-point lead at three-quarter time.
“She’s a larrikin,” Marinkovich says of Garbin. “She’s the one who brings the humour to the group. Very laid-back, provided the fun. She’s the Tik-Tokker and the cool kid. Keeps us entertained.”
Dear IOC. Give these fierce, ferocious women, and their lively sport, a gig at the Brisbane Games. They’re one of the great Australian sporting teams, perhaps the best of the lot among females, and good old nettie in good old Brizzie will be one of the hottest tickets in town.
The gold medal match in Glasgow will be staged just hours before the closing ceremony on Sunday, and the crazy Diamonds wholly and totally expect to be there.
They don’t have to say it. Every pedal-to-the-metal move they make, and every hustling, bustling, soft-shoe-shuffling step they take, and every subtly flying elbow, and ruthless dropped shoulder, reveals it.
Will SwantonSport Reporter