The New Zealand side hit a new low in tonight's opening Constellation Cup clash against Australia, suffering a confidence-sapping 17-goal loss as the Diamonds landed another massive psychological blow ahead of next year's World Cup.
The match was the first meeting between the two sides since that extraordinary final in Glasgow, in which Australia walloped the Ferns by 18 goals. Given that loss came at the end of a long and difficult campaign for the New Zealand side, with a cruel run of injuries in the shooting end derailing their tournament, Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander believed it was not an accurate gauge of where the Ferns were at competitively.
Tonight, the first of four tests over the next two weeks, was to provide a more accurate measure of the gap between the two sides. And it is substantial.
The Australian side were again at their clinical, ruthless, and dominant best in Invercargill. New Zealand struggled under the relentless pressure of the Australian defence, frequently looking flustered, while they had little answers for the slick Diamonds attack.
Star shooter Caitlin Bassett was especially dominant, using her 1.92m frame to her full advantage as she seemingly did as she pleased in the shooting circle. Bassett contributed 44 of Australia's 59 goals - more than all the Silver Ferns shooters combined.
Australia have now won the last six meetings between the two sides and, on the evidence of tonight, that run seems certain to extend over the remainder of the series.
Alexander rewarded the same seven that delivered her gold in such emphatic fashion in Glasgow with a start in Invercargill last night. Likewise, the Ferns stuck with a similar line-up to the Commonwealth Games, the only change being in the shooting end with the return of Cathrine Latu offset by the loss of Maria Tutaia.
The signs did not look promising from the start for New Zealand, with the home side taking more than a minute to score off their opening centre pass after a hesitant start from the feeders. The Australian attack also had a couple of problems connecting early on, but quickly found their rhythm, surging out to a 13-8 lead at the first break.
They continued to gather momentum at an alarming rate in the second period, extending their lead out to nine goals as defenders Julie Corletto and Laura Geitz shut down the Ferns attack end, forcing Waimarama Taumaunu to look to her bench early.
She introduced rookie shooter Bailey Mes six minutes into the period in place of Jodi Brown. The new pairing of Mes and Latu made a promising start, before Latu made the error of calling another time-out - the second of the period - which meant she had to be replaced immediately. After that the New Zealand attack end came unstuck completely, allowing Australia to take a 32-17 lead heading into the second period.
With the game having already escaped them, the Ferns tried to limit the damage as best they could in the second half. They began to make a minor dent in Australia's lead early on in the third spell, but they did not have the discipline and concentration to continue to build on that momentum, and the Diamonds were still able to win the second half by two.
Silver Ferns v Australia
Shooting:
New Zealand
• Cathrine Latu 26/28
• Jodi Brown 5/8
• Bailey Mes 11/19
Australia
• Caitlin Bassett 44/48
• Natalie Medhurst 11/15
• Tegan Caldwell 4/5.
Q1: 13-8
Q2: 19-9 (32-17)
Q3: 13-11 (45-28)
Q4: 14-14 (59-42).
