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AAP
Justin Chadwick

Hurting Diamonds aim to avoid 4-0 series loss to NZ

Australia's netball Diamonds looked gum after their third straight defeat to New Zealand. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Will New Zealand take pity on Australia ahead of the fourth and final Constellation Cup Test in Melbourne?

The Diamonds hit a new low in Perth on Sunday when they suffered a shock 61-43 loss in front of 13,048 fans at RAC Arena.

It gave NZ an unassailable 3-0 lead in Constellation Cup ahead of Wednesday's series finale in Melbourne.

New Zealand
New Zealand celebrate after winning their Constellation Cup match in Perth. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

And it marked the first time NZ have beaten the Diamonds by double digits in three consecutive Tests, and was their first win on Australian soil since 2019.

Remarkably, NZ have used the same seven players for every single minute of all three of the Constellation Cup matches.

Goalshooter Grace Nweke has been the difference in the series, returning hauls of 50, 47 and 47 goals.

Centre Maddy Gordon was MVP in game one, Nweke was the choice in game two and wing defence Kate Heffernan earned the honour on Sunday.

The Silver Ferns now have the chance to achieve something they've never done before - sweeping Australia 4-0 in the Constellation Cup.

But coach Noeline Taurua is also weighing up the opportunity to give some of the team's fringe players game time in Melbourne in a move that could reduce their chances of securing a series sweep.

"Opportunities do exist and present for us now, which is pretty cool," Taurua said. 

"I think we've got to be very smart. Our Bomb Squad had been training amazing, and they've been champing at the bit to try and get on.

"It's an opportunity to look at that depth.

"But also 4-0 is a beautiful potential thing that we've never been able to do before.

Marinkovich
Australia coach Stacey Marinkovich is hoping for a quick bounce back by her team in Melbourne. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

"So getting that balance is really critical for us moving forward, and something that I have to talk with the leadership group as to what we do in that respect."

In the wake of the three heavy losses, Australia coach Stacey Marinkovich questioned whether her team entered the series mentally fatigued.

Marinkovich says she will investigate the failings of this series to ensure it doesn't happen again, but is confident there are some quick fixes that can be made ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne.

"We've done things a little bit different in terms of we had a series (against England), then we had a break. They went back home and trained," Marinkovich said. 

"So I think there's a lot of things that we've just got to look at and go, 'OK, what's causing this sort of cloudedness?'

"There's mistakes that are happening. It's just not the norm.

"We've known for a very long time that there's one per cent between the top teams, Jamaica, England, Australia, NZ.

"It's just where international netball is. So it is tight, and if you're not at your best, you get found out pretty well.

"All the girls that sit in the room are hurting, and we all take responsibility as to where we want to go."

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