The Diamonds made a welcome return to Australia for Game 3 of the Constellation Cup, playing on home soil for the first time in more than 1000 days.
In front of a sold-out crowd at John Cain Arena the team secured an impressive 62-47 victory over New Zealand, getting back to their winning ways as they hustled to keep the contest alive after losing the opening two matches.
From the first whistle, the team made it clear they weren't going to concede back-to-back Constellation Cups without a fight.
Their frenzied start ultimately set them up to play their best match in this series since Stacey Marinkovich took over as head coach.
Running with a more experienced line-up certainly helped, including the addition of goal defence Jo Weston, who was originally rested for the series before being called up to replace Sunday Aryang who suffered a calf injury.
With Weston in the mix, Marinkovich reverted to her go-to defensive combo from the team's golden campaign at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, pushing Courtney Bruce back into goal keeper after she started the last couple of games in Weston's favoured bib alongside Sarah Klau.
That familiarity brought out the best in Bruce, who shone with five gains (three intercepts, eight deflections, one rebound and one pick-up) as she battled hard with Silver Ferns shooter Grace Nweke (30/31) throughout the entire 60 minutes.
In the matches previously played across the ditch, 20-year-old Nweke had been a huge target for the kiwis with her towering presence (1.93m) and strong connection with wing attack Peta Toeava.
Together the Northern Mystics teammates were able to keep the feed out of the Diamonds' clutches by peppering the ball high into the circle off the centre pass and catching the defenders flat-footed.
Unfortunately, Toeava is not taking part in the Australian leg of the Constellation Cup and her absence was definitely felt by the team.
In her place, midcourters Maddy Gordon and Kimiora Poi made the trip to Melbourne hoping to match Toeava's performances, but failed to fire at the same capacity.
Gordon got the nod at wing attack to start and was subbed for Poi at the first break, allowing current World Cup winning coach Noeline Taurua to give her more direction on the bench.
Once Gordon was brought back into the game for the second half, she found better touch (17 feeds, 15 centre-pass receives), but wasn't able to have the same impact on the stats sheet as her Australian counterpart Liz Watson (57 feeds, 18 centre-pass receives).
It was a big statement from Watson, who as Diamonds captain has had to put on a brave face over the past two weeks amidst the controversy surrounding the national team's new sponsorship with Hancock Prospecting.
Her performance, as well as other senior players in the group like Steph Wood, Bruce and Weston, very much felt like a response to the criticism they've been copping from the public and media.
By having a blinder, they did their best to remind people what their actual jobs are – to be good at playing netball, not answering questions on behalf of the sporting body in relation to its responsibilities around environmental and First Nations matters.
Watson has been put in a tough spot by those above her during this period, considering she's been expected to vocalise her support for a partnership she was never even consulted about.
Her vice-captain Wood was another stand-out in this game, upping the ante at goal attack to control the tempo of Australia's shooting circle.
Marinkovich made another key change to her starting seven for Game 3, opting to give Sophie Garbin her first start alongside the vice-captain after she'd previously only featured for 10 minutes as an impact player in the opening match.
In the past couple of outings, Wood had looked hesitant feeding to her Sunshine Coast Lightning teammate Cara Koenen, whose best asset is her pop through on the baseline.
The tactical nuance from Taurua – who coached the Lightning to two Super Netball premierships – used this inside knowledge to ensure her defenders shut down Koenen's ability.
This cut off the shooter-to-shooter connection and mounted pressure on Wood to put a long shot up or try to force a pass in, leading to plenty of turnover for the Silver Ferns.
What Garbin did instead, was hold her space alongside the defenders before popping through the middle of the circle with a split stance and some help from the feeders, to find a quick one-two pass and edge closer to the post.
Once the New Zealand defenders realised the impact Garbin was having (34/38) on the game, they began doubling up on the shooter, but the move didn't have its desired effect.
Instead, it left Wood largely unmarked and free to cut up the court, dictate space, sweep around the circle and take on more responsibility to share the shooting load (28/35).
Although the accuracy from the Diamonds was less impressive than the opposition (85 per cent versus 96 per cent) their relentless work in attack saw the shooters receive a heap more ball service and therefore more opportunity to goal (73 attempts versus 49).
It was also the most physical outing between the two teams so far, amassing 130 penalties (71 Silver Ferns versus 59 Diamonds) as players threw their bodies on the line in a desperate bid to win the match.
By the end, every Diamonds player was puffing and red-faced, proving the intense effort they'd put into lifting their performance after a disappointing start to the series.
Whether it was the controversy surrounding the team, their return to play on Australian soil or the sheer realisation that New Zealand were close to sealing back-to-back Constellation Cup wins for the very first time – something certainly spurred the team on to get back to their best.
The 15-goal victory not only keeps the series alive but sees the Diamonds take the lead on goal difference (now ahead by three goals) – meaning whoever wins the final game on the Gold Coast this Sunday will get their hands on the cup.
