Last night the Diamonds were tasked with their first expected challenge of the tournament, the New Zealand Silver Ferns. A predicted 8-12 point win in the Diamonds favour was way out of the ballpark when Australia took the win by a mere one goal in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
Tash Lewis and Rob Wright
Collingwood Magpies netball’s official 2019 Netball World Cup (NWC) correspondent, A.K.A the Magpies’ head coach, Rob Wright, will keep us up to date with all the very latest coming out of Liverpool.
Day 7 – Thursday 18 July
AUS V NZ
Earlier prediction Australia to defeat New Zealand – margin of 8-12.
I’m devastated with how far off I was with my prediction.
At halftime I was happy – thinking I was on track. All changed after the break when New Zealand came roaring back in what was a nail biting ending.
I had my own two players of the match:
No. 1 – today’s true MVP, I believe, was head coach Noeline Taurua.
I was lucky to run into Noeline last night in my pursuit of locating a decent Indian restaurant in Liverpool. Navigation has never been my strong suit, I got lost and had to ask a nearby hotel concierge for directions. Coincidentally it’s the hotel the New Zealand team is staying as I spotted Noeline across the foyer.
We had a chat about the tournament – she mentioned her team being in a really good place. I complimented her on what exceptional job she’s done – in the space of 12 months the Silver Ferns have gone from team wreck to team slick.
Side note – the Indian restaurant (Yukti Liverpool) I gave a rave review, was really impressed. I pride myself in being a level six on TripAdvisor – the top 1 per cent of reviewers.
No. 2 – Steph Wood.
New Zealand is building well.
Australia need to address today’s high penalty count. They racked up 76 penalties and they’ll want to tidy that up. Lisa Alexander will think it’s too high and it’s something we’ll see addressed in the next two games.
ENG V SA
Earlier prediction England to defeat South Africa – margin of 6-10.
The other semi-final I got right. One point out, I’ll pay that.
Future predictions
New Zealand to defeat England, margin 3-5.
Australia to defeat South Africa, margin 10-13.
In other news – I’m excited to see tomorrow’s weather is expected to be a top of 22 degrees with heavy rain by late morning. FINALLY some decent weather – I’ve been waiting for this all week!
Signing off.