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AAP
AAP
Anna Harrington

Diamonds find 'identity' ahead of gold medal defence

Australia's Commonwealth Games lead up has closed in a sweep of Jamaica in Liz Watson's 100th Test. (Dylan Burns/AAP PHOTOS)

Coach Stacey Marinkovich believes a refreshed Diamonds squad has found its "identity" ahead of attempting to become the first Australian netball team to defend Commonwealth Games gold.

In their final international before heading to Glasgow, Australia wrapped up a three-game series clean sweep over Jamaica with an 80-33 thumping on Wednesday night at John Cain Arena.

Marinkovich led Australia to gold in Birmingham in 2022 but stressed this wasn't the same team - there are five different players - and she and her players were comfortable with where they sat.

The Diamonds kick off their title defence against England on July 26 and are in Pool A with the Roses, South Africa, Malawi, Tonga and Northern Ireland.

Marinkovich.
Marinkovich's Australia have rejuvenated as they aim up for the Commonwealth Games. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

"It was a whirlwind when when I first came in - you don't exactly know what it's going to be like until you're in it," Marinkovich said. 

"Sometimes that's a bonus, because you play the moments, and you take your journey and you set a plan and you just really stick to it, because that's what you've got to believe in. 

"Now that we know what it is like, I think it's just reinforcing that when we put a plan and we're collectively aligned and bought into it, we put ourselves in a good position.

"We've added to the way in which we played, and we've spoken about not being back to the level of what we did before, because this is a new group. You even saw the way the ball was moving, our defensive structures were different.

"And I think that's the exciting thing - this team has found its identity, and now it's actually seeing what it can achieve together."

Cara Koenen.
Australia's Cara Koenen shone in her 50th Test, with 23 goals from 25 attempts. (Dylan Burns/AAP PHOTOS)

Marinkovic wasn't afraid to test depth and experiment with different partnerships across the court during the series.

"It creates headaches for me, but they're really good ones to have," the coach added.

Players now return to their clubs to kick off their Super Netball season and ensure they stamp their tickets to Glasgow.

"The best thing about this group is how we train against each other, and the competition that we have within our group," defensive stalwart Courtney Bruce said. 

"But then we also play in the best league in the world. Like there is nothing that prepares us better when we can't be together than playing in (Super Netball). 

"Like Stace said, we've added strings to our bows. We've added new defensive things to our toolkits and things that we haven't even been able to put out there yet.

"And Stace said to us, before going into this game: 'How do we want to, I guess, leave this game? How do we want to show the rest of the world what we've got?' 

"And I think we closed this chapter really well. We move on to the next chapter. And we're really excited."

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