Constellation Cup Netball

2022 - 10 - 24

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Fox Sports"

Slow-starting Diamonds slammed by penalties as rivals open up ... (Fox Sports)

The Australian Diamonds will have to block out the “outside noise” surrounding their $15 million sponsorship debacle if they are to reclaim the ...

A beautiful dodge by Sophie Garbin saw her open under the post to keep Australia within touching distance. “It’s about how the Diamonds respond to that (umpiring). Another big penalty call on Gordon in attack gave the Diamonds the chance to take the lead for the first time in the match, and Wood converted. It took almost four minutes for New Zealand to score their first goal of the quarter as the Aussies suddenly found space in their goal circle. A big Bruce intercept gave the Aussies a second chance to narrow New Zealand’s lead after Wood had missed her fourth goal of the match, before some Garbin goals levelled scores in the third. And Nweke missed her first attempt after Bruce forced her rival out a little further than she’d been used to in the first half. Kate Heffernan pulled in a beautiful intercept on the goal circle but Diamonds star Courtney Bruce got the deflection to stop a resulting goal. Steph Wood was hit by a “cruel” held ball call on a shot that dropped to start the second term before Price put her body on the line to win back possession. Bruce was given the “no more” warning from the umpire - but not an official warning as the Ferns jumped out to a six-goal break. A massive contact call on Maddy Gordon in attack gave the Aussies their first chance to narrow the gap. After two losses against the Silver Ferns in New Zealand to start the series, the Aussies came back with a vengeance in game three in front of home fans for the first time in more than 1000 days. Just 24 hours after Hancock Prospecting made headlines across the country by pulling out for their massive deal due to “disunity” between players and Netball Australia, the Diamonds will take the court to face their rivals New Zealand in the series decider on the Gold Coast.

Silver Ferns squander lead as Constellation Cup slips away (New Zealand Herald)

Whitney Souness of New Zealand during the fourth Constellation Cup test on the Gold Coast. Photosport. The Constellation Cup was headed back into Australian ...

Taking four minutes to score their first goal of the quarter immediately put the Silver Ferns on the back foot. Bursting out to a seven-goal, the Silver Ferns were reeled in by a fast-finishing Australia. The Silver Ferns held at five-goal lead at halftime but fell away in the face of a rampant Diamonds side to lose the third stanza 19-8. The Garbin and Wood shooting connection rose to new levels during a decisive third spell. There was plenty of nip and tuck with the Diamonds drawing within two before the Silver Ferns rallied and repelled. Nweke and skipper Ameliaranne Ekenasio gave the Diamonds defenders plenty to think about with their quick interplay and accuracy.

Exhausted Diamonds win Constellation Cup trophy back with epic ... (ABC News)

With all the sponsorship drama going on around the team, missing their star shooter and trailing 2-0 to start the series, Australia's remarkable ...

Wallam is expected to debut and Paige Hadley will captain the side as Watson takes a much-deserved rest. Pundits had expected there to be a lot more whistle in the final game as a result, and while we saw more cautions given out (at least four), ironically, New Zealand were again the team that led the penalty count (91-77), conceding a whopping 29 in the third quarter. By the midway mark of the championship quarter, the Diamonds had scored 13 of the first 15 goals that period to force an 11-goal turnaround and find themselves in front for the first time in the game. In game three, the total penalty count had blown out to 130, and despite being the main offenders (71-59), the Silver Ferns had flagged the increasing physicality within the series as an area of concern with the umpires ahead of the final outing. [in the wake of the largest crisis that has rocked the sport throughout its history](/news/2022-10-23/tracey-holmes-netball-australia-sponsorship-crisis/101566600), the Diamonds produced an unbelievable performance in the championship quarter of [game four in the Constellation Cup series to seal a 57-53 victory and steal the trophy back from New Zealand](/news/2022-10-23/australia-new-zealand-diamonds-constellation-cup-series-win/101567914). [the team lifted in Melbourne on Wednesday to win by 15 goals](/news/2022-10-20/diamonds-keep-constellation-cup-series-alive-amidst-controversy/101554766), buoyed by a loud Australian crowd for the first time in more than 1,000 days.

Australian Diamonds beat Silver Ferns to win Constellation Cup (1 News)

A stirring third quarter has earned the Diamonds a comeback win over New Zealand and ensured a dramatic week for Netball Australia ended with possession of ...

With Wallam and Ryan watching from the sideline, the Diamonds battled to match New Zealand's pressure in the first half but exploded with a series-clinching third quarter. Rinehart's company took aim at NA's "virtue signalling". A stirring third quarter has earned the Diamonds a comeback win over New Zealand and ensured a dramatic week for Netball Australia ended with possession of the Constellation Cup.

Constellation Cup: Australian Diamonds overcome off-court ... (Newshub)

Netball Australia has just lost a $15 million mining sponsorship.

Why there are no winners off the court in netball saga (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Captain Liz Watson and Stacey Marinkovich spoke about “learnings” and “lessons” from the saga, which has plunged Australia's largest female participation sport ...

Mostly it was a defence of Hancock Prospecting, highlighting the miner’s economic contribution to Western Australia and the Indigenous communities in which it operates its Pilbara mines. It was no stunt and Rinehart made sure there was nothing cheap about the exercise. The partnership was to be relaunched the next day. This was after Hancock Prospecting representatives made it clear in a meeting with the team that they would not entertain an individual exemption. She will be just the third Indigenous Diamond when she makes her debut in the coming days. [stated commitment](https://netball.com.au/news/netballs-declaration-commitment) to break down the barriers that have led to severe Indigenous under-representation in the sport.

'Agreed to wear the dress': $15m sponsor deal pulled despite ... (Fox Sports)

'Agreed to wear the dress': $15m sponsor deal pulled despite Diamonds backing down.

“I think we just need to clarify here the players’ position has always been they were prepared to wear the logo during the Constellation Cup. I would have thought and hoped for Donnell that exemption would be provided. Harby-Williams said the players had been “willing to compromise”, asking for “three weeks grace” to get through the back-to-back Test series before sitting down with Hancock and Netball Australia to work through “the issues and reach an agreement”. We had come to an agreement with Netball Australia where everyone was comfortable that that would happen, and then Donnell and the players would not be required to wear the logo against England in the three-match Test series starting shortly,” she said. “It got to the point where Donnell was then actually going to agree to wear the dress and that was simply because the pressure was too much for her to bear and as a sport I think that should be extremely disappointing for everybody.” “And that was a disappointing moment because the players thought at the very least that Donnell would be granted an exemption at that point in time.

Major sponsors stick with Netball Australia despite Hancock ... (The Guardian)

Key Netball Australia sponsors have denied reports they are considering walking away from the code after Gina Reinhart's mining firm Hancock Prospecting ...

“The ones that are no good to themselves and can’t accept things, the half-castes – and this is where most of the trouble comes – I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in future and that would solve the problem.” “At no point in time did the players seek to have the deal fall off the table but we were certainly willing to come to a compromise and had agreed to that shortly after the players stood by Donnell.” “We had come to an agreement with Netball Australia where everyone was comfortable that would happen and that Donnell and the players would not be required to wear the logo against England in the three-match series starting shortly,” Harby-Williams said. Other major sponsors echoed those comments. Insurance firm HCF said it was “proud” of its partnership with the code, which had seen it “empower those within the netball community to lead healthier, more active lives” over the last four years. “Suncorp is very proud of our longstanding principal partnership of Netball Australia, as the leading women’s team sport in participation and our commitment to supporting the game from the grassroots community level through to Suncorp Super Netball, and the national Diamonds team,” a company spokesperson said.

Constellation Cup Netball

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