The Australian netball team has rolled to a second straight victory in its Commonwealth Games campaign, this time beating Scotland 83-30.
Despite the blown-out scoreline, the Diamonds were challenged more in this game than they were against Barbados (95-18), as the Thistles bodied up in defence.
Stacey Marinkovich continued to test the depth and versatility of the group and found a few more aces up her sleeve in the process, following the 10 changes she made yesterday with another 12 today.
Four changes were made to the starting seven, as midcourter Paige Hadley got her first run at the Games, starting the match in centre and playing two half quarters in her return from a minor leg injury.
The rest of the changes came at each end of the court, allowing the Diamonds to trial fresh bookends.
Up front Kiera Austin and Gretel Bueta occupied the shooting circle, while Sunday Aryang and Sarah Klau got their first chance to work together in defence.
The latter was more successful, as Aryang's incredible closing speed allowed Klau to come out for a flier knowing she would be quick to cover her player if the move didn't come off.
This new-found combination will definitely come in handy as the Games go on, seeing as it seemed to click right from the beginning and is likely to surprise teams.
Meanwhile, the experiment with Austin (10/13) and Bueta (33/34) was less cohesive, as Bueta missed her first shot right under the post and the pair had a couple of fumbles in attack.
Bueta – much like we saw for the Queensland Firebirds in this year's Super Netball league – was almost doing too much, driving outside the circle to help bring the ball down court and leaving no-one inside ready to take the feed.
This was partly due to the tough contest between Austin and Scotland goal defence Emily Nicholl, who was able to delay Austin driving into the circle and hold her away from the play. Nicholl's work made it difficult for the shooters to link up and ultimately led to extra work for Bueta.
It also made it obvious that the game plan revolved around one target in the circle and in the middle of the first quarter, Scotland capitalised on this, holding players wide and forcing errors from the Australians to get on a four-goal streak and switch the momentum.
The crowd at the NEC Arena loved this, as it made for the first close contest they'd seen in five matches played.
Unfortunately, Scotland's momentum shift was short-lived, and by the second period the Diamonds attack really started to hum, seeing the score push out from 17-10 at quarter-time to 35-16 at the half-time break.
Scotland also continued to throw away possession, panicking in tough moments and forcing feeds into the goal circle rather than working them to the circle edge.
Heading out for the third quarter, Marinkovich made four rotations, trialling two fresh combinations at either end and bringing Jo Weston on into wing defence.
It was only a matter of time before we saw the Diamonds use the 2022 Super Netball winning combination between the West Coast Fever's Courtney Bruce and Aryang in defence and, pleasingly, that domestic partnership made a seamless transition to the international stage after Bruce replaced Klau at goal keeper.
It would come as no surprise if these two were to make another appearance together against Jamaica in the later stages of the group matches, given their inside knowledge against Sunshine Girls spearhead Jhaniele Fowler.
The other change that worked brilliantly was the injection of Cara Koenen (36/37) at goal shooter and the shifting of Bueta out to goal attack, seeing ball flow freely to the post.
Although this seemed like a brand new combination, Koenen confirmed the two shooters had previously played together in the Queensland pathways during their Australian Netball League days.
That was years ago now, but it's clear their connection is still strong, so it feels like Marinkovich has uncovered a hidden gem with this pairing.
"I have played with Grets a bit in the past, but we've still got work to do in this Diamonds team because sometimes we do end up doing the same thing and so we're just hoping to keep that combination growing and working on our balance in the circle to get the ball in.
"Gretel is such an incredible player, she's so tall and athletic, and since we played together a while ago both of our games have come a long way … Steph Wood was actually in that team as well, so it's kind of a full-circle moment for all of us, which is really nice."
With a 33-goal lead heading into the final quarter, Marinkovich continued to fiddle with her seven, reverting back to a similar line-up that finished the match against Barbados and getting the last of her remaining players on court.
Steph Wood (4/4) joined her Sunshine Coast Lightning teammate Koenen in the circle, Austin got a run at wing attack, Ash Brazill lit up the court in centre and Jo Weston linked up with Bruce in defence.
Australia also utitlised Kate Moloney in wing defence for the first time this tournament, after she'd done a solid job throughout the match switching in and out of centre with Hadley.
Despite the long list of substitutions, the Diamonds continued to dominate the game, pushing out their lead to have their strongest quarter (25-5) and record another large victory by 53 goals.
Tomorrow they'll get a day off, before facing South Africa on Monday. It'll be the first match-up the Diamonds have in Birmingham against a fellow top-five ranked team.
Commonwealth Games fixtures
Friday, July 29 — Australia 95 d Barbados 18
Saturday, July 30 — Australia 83 d Scotland 30
Monday, August 1 — Australia vs South Africa
Tuesday, August 2 — Australia vs Wales
Thursday, August 4 — Australia vs Jamaica
Saturday, August 6 — Semifinals
Sunday, August 7 — Bronze medal match
Monday, August 8 — Gold medal match
