Sophie Garbin of Australia with the ball. Photo: JAMES ROSS
Analysis - Yes it's a perennial statement but slowing down the Diamonds' attacking end will be key if the Silver Ferns want to get their Constellation Cup series back on track.
The Diamonds 69-52 win over the Silver Ferns in the series opener on Friday was their highest score ever against New Zealand across the 173 matches played between the two countries since 1938.
The 24-11 final quarter blitz from the Diamonds was also Australia's highest score ever in a quarter against the Ferns.
By the fourth quarter the heads of the Silver Ferns defenders were spinning and that's never a good sign when you're playing Australia - ask any New Zealand defender who has had to come up against the Diamonds.
Goal shoot Sophie Garbin and goal attack Kiera Austin put on a fine display of ball speed and accuracy and demonstrated that a moving circle can outscore a circle dominated by a tall holding shooter.
Angst has grown in Australia over the number of import players who occupy starting goal shoot positions in the Suncorp Super Netball competition (SSN).
In 2026, five out of the eight SSN franchises will have import players anchoring that position.
This year it was six, leaving just Cara Koenen for the Sunshine Coast Lightning and Garbin for the title winning Melbourne Vixens, flying the flag for Australian goal shooters.
No surprises then that Koenen and Garbin are both Australian Diamonds, with the latter establishing herself as the starting choice.
What makes Garbin's talents more remarkable is that she only just clears six foot (1.85m), which is short compared to the other top shooters in world netball.
Garbin's graphite-like hold was on full display in the first Test. The 28-year-old was the highest scorer with 42 goals at 93 percent.
Her hold, coupled with her fleet-footed movements along the base line, meant that veteran Silver Fern defender Kelly Jackson struggled to contain her, despite standing at 1.92m.
What makes the Australian shooting circle so dangerous is the double threat of Austin, who put up 27 goals - a phenomenal return for a goal attack.
Interim Silver Ferns coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said working as a unit will help when they meet them in Test two on Wednesday night.
"For example defensively working together in pairs a lot more, making sure that we're getting on and off the body. A lot of focus on our own roles and making sure we're really clear about the timing, particularly meeting them. We're giving them a lot of space to move and that's putting us on the back foot or they're getting us in a position where there's lot of mis-match so we're on the wrong player altogether and having to scramble - so lots of clarity of who's going when."
Liz Watson (L) and Silver Fern Kate Heffernan. Photo: AAP / Photosport
The Australian attacking end also did a good job of wrong-footing the New Zealand defenders.
"They often have people moving in the opposite direction so they're drawing you away from your task as you get attracted to somebody else moving," McCausland-Durie said.
"That's our challenge, making sure we can stay with them in terms of one-on-one, meeting them early and at least delaying that timing a little bit rather than backing up and allowing them to just get runs on us."
As for combating Garbin's hold?
"So again we're getting stuck on the body and staying stuck so we've talked a lot about keeping the movement, being mobile, making sure we can get in a front position."
Jackson said Garbin and Austin had been able to consolidate their pairing from playing netball together at the Melbourne Vixens.
"They've both got the experience, they are strong, and their timing to work off each other is impeccable so for us in the circle we've really got to work together and get those switches going and nail that timing so they don't get that connection," Jackson said.
Neither side gained much clean ball in the first Test but the Diamonds did force New Zealand into mistakes and wayward passes that flew out of court.
Even if circle defenders Jackson and Karin Burger aren't able to get much ball, they will be looking to force the hosts into making mistakes.
The Silver Ferns committed 17 turnovers compared to a very disciplined nine from Australia.
Rookie defender Catherine Hall also got some minutes at both goal defence and goal keep in Melbourne, as the Silver Ferns tried to find answers.
In the past, Jackson has had success using her long lean over the shot and got into the heads of the Australian shooters, which she will need to do in Test two.
New Zealand's midcourt will need to give Jackson and Burger half a chance by slowing the ball as it comes down the court. Kate Heffernan has a big job trying to negate Liz Watson, arguably the best wing attack in the world, but it's exactly what she did last year when New Zealand won the Constellation Cup.
The other focus for the Silver Ferns will be getting the ball from the midcourt into the shooting end much faster, without having to recycle the ball constantly in the middle third.
McCausland-Durie tried three wing attacks in the first Test, opting to start with Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, before bringing Peta Toeava on, then Kimiora Poi for the last few minutes.
The experienced Poi was a revelation at wing attack during last year's series, when New Zealand upset Australia 3-1, and she might be tempted to start her in Test two.
"I think the challenge for us is having that confidence to take on a drive and to take on the space, we saw people standing there ... stayed back and that meant the links through to the front court weren't as clear and then we're swinging ball unnecessarily and making our front line have to work incredibly hard and that got them going laterally instead of up and down the court," McCausland-Durie said.
"We got pushed really wide sideline so just making sure that we know where we want to go and are really confident about taking that drive on and equally giving that ball. We often would look, someone would look covered and just didn't trust ourselves to put them in space so we created a lot of problems for ourselves with the decisions we made with ball in hand."
The second Test in Sydney gets underway at 9:30pm. The final two Tests will be played in New Zealand.
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