{"id":18817,"date":"2026-10-29T05:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18817"},"modified":"2026-10-29T05:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T16:52:04","slug":"australia-end-silver-ferns-winning-streak-in-final-hit-out-before-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=18817","title":{"rendered":"Australia end Silver Ferns winning-streak in final hit-out before World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Australian Diamonds have ended the Silver Ferns 11-game winning streak<\/a> and are expected to hold on to their number one world ranking after a 68-58 win over their rivals in Melbourne.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Silver Ferns claimed the Constellation Cup<\/a> for just the fourth time when they won the third Test in Sydney on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the Commonwealth Games gold medallists came into Test four wanting to deliver a psychological blow on the Diamonds, in the rivals’ last international hit-out before next year’s World Cup in Sydney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No side gave an inch until the Diamonds went on a run late in the third quarter, which saw them shoot out to a seven-goal lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Georgie Horjus played a big part in the win when she stepped into the goal attack bib, having spent the series at wing attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It meant Australian captain Liz Watson was able to start in her strongest position at wing attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Silver Fern goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit got her first start of the series and Peta Toeava replaced Kimiora Poi in the game day 12, getting the nod at wing attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"New<\/div>
Silver Fern Kelly Jackson was one of New Zealand’s top performers.<\/p>\n

Andrew Cornaga\/www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Silver Ferns led 15-14 after the opening quarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The positional change of Horjus, who is relatively short for a goal attack at just 172cm, proved a masterstroke for the home side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The crafty attacker worked well in tandem with goal shoot Sophie Garbin and had the Silver Ferns’ heads spinning at times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jessie Grenvold, who’s been a revelation for the Diamonds since debuting at goal keep in the first Test, continued to make her presence felt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Parris Mason was injected for the first time in the series when she came on for captain Karin Burger at goal defence midway through the second quarter, a substitution that was reversed during the third period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kelly Jackson continued her excellent form by both picking off ball high outside of the circle and with her reach over the shot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Silver Ferns maintained their one goal buffer to lead 32-31 at half-time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Australian<\/div>
Georgie Horjus had a sensational game for the Diamonds.<\/p>\n

Blake Armstrong<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After the main break Georgia Heffernan came on at goal attack, Maddy Gordon shifted up the court to wing attack, and Kate Heffernan to centre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But when the Diamonds piled on the goals late in the quarter coach Dame Noeline Taurua changed her entire front line. That saw Amelia Walmsley come on at goal shoot for Grace Nweke, while Selby-Rickit and Toeava also returned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Australia led 51-45 at three-quarter time and they picked up where they left off in the final quarter, punishing a tired looking New Zealand side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Walmsley later switched to goal attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Diamonds didn’t make a single change to their starting seven and coach Stacey Marinkovich will be thrilled with the eye-catching performance of Horjus, who finished with an incredible 26 goals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite not getting the series whitewash, the Silver Ferns are expected to go level on points with Australia when World Netball next publishes the world rankings in December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nweke became the inaugural winner of the Plummer-Aitken medal when she was named MVP of the series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Next month the Silver Ferns will play the New Zealand men’s team in a three-game series in Hamilton.<\/p>\n

rnz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian Diamonds have ended the Silver Ferns 11-game winning streak and are expected to hold on to their number one world ranking after a 68-58 win over their rivals in Melbourne. The Silver Ferns claimed the Constellation Cup for just the fourth time when they won the third Test in Sydney on Sunday. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nz-news","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18819,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18817\/revisions\/18819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}