Southern Steel coach Robyn Broughton was just as baffled with the Silver Ferns' sudden loss of form as the rest of us.
The wily coach watched in amazement as New Zealand slumped to a 46-40 loss to rival Australia in the deciding test at the Vector Arena in Auckland on Sunday night.
The result was not surprising in isolation but three days earlier the Silver Ferns thumped the Diamonds 59-40 and seemingly had the momentum going into the third and final test.
Instead, the match slipped away in the fourth quarter after Australia posted five unanswered goals.
The Diamonds will now head into the Commonwealth Games in India next month safe in the knowledge they have the game to dethrone the defending gold medallist.
"I'm not quite sure what happened, really," Broughton told the Otago Daily Times when contacted for comment.
"I was quite confident [before the match] we would carry on with how we were going ... but I just don't know what went wrong. I can't pinpoint it."
Broughton suspected Australia would lift its intensity following the heavy loss in the second test in Wellington.
"I didn't think the Australians played that well.
"Their timing was out, their ball handling skills, which are usually immaculate, were out.
"They weren't getting anything on defence.
"Catherine Cox shot quite well but I didn't think she was available enough and they really got messed up in their attack end."
Broughton, though, expected the Silver Ferns would counter with a burst of their own.
"I thought they wafted in and out of the game a bit, and they weren't consistent or showed that real fire.
"I just think we are better than that [performance]."
Australian goal keep Susan Fuhrmann did a good job guarding Irene van Dyk's shot and got away with stepping in closer than perhaps you might expect to get away with, Broughton added.
"I replayed that to have a look and she [the umpire] should have stopped that straight away because it put them on the back foot from the beginning.
"But most of it is mental toughness at that level and whatever they are ruling you have to adjust to."
Fuhrmann seems to have the measure of van Dyk.
The 1.96m defender leans in with her long limbs and has been effective at cramping van Dyk for room, Broughton said.
"She has got a good lean over but she has very little elevation ... when we lobbed the ball over, Irene was getting the ball.
"It was just when van Dyk was shooting Fuhrmann seemed to do well.
"And when Irene went out of the circle she didn't let her back in.
"She played some very, very vigorous man-to-man defence."
That physical style took a toll on van Dyk in the opening game of the series and worked well in the decider.
Despite the morale-bruising loss, Broughton is not an advocate for sweeping changes, although she would like to see Steel midcourter Liana Barrett-Chase get more of a run.
"I would persevere with Liana. I have great faith in her ability.
"She was voted the best player in the ANZ Championship and she is a specialist wing attack."
With four strong candidates for the three midcourt positions, Broughton wondered whether things were as settled as they should be.
Broughton would leave Temepara George on the bench and start with Laura Langman at centre, Joline Henry at wing defence and Barrett-Chase at wing attack.
