The Diamonds will attempt to put their Super Netball pay dispute at the back of their minds and start their Constellation Cup series against New Zealand with a bang.
The World Cup winners' four-game series against the Silver Ferns kicks off at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Thursday night, against the backdrop of a bitter standoff between the players and Netball Australia (NA).
But captain Liz Watson insists the breakdown of negotiations for their Collective Player Agreement (CPA) hasn't overshadowed the international match in her home town.
"I think Australia's still very excited about that and so are we," she said.
"It was obviously a really exciting World Cup campaign.
"It's awesome to be now back here in Melbourne to share that with our fans.
"I know John Cain's pretty much almost sold out tomorrow night and ... it's always really, really close and tight and fierce when we play the Ferns.
"So I know it's gonna be a great game."
The reigning World Cup winners and Commonwealth Games gold medallists are adamant they won't rest on their laurels against their fierce rivals.
Australia's squad is mainly comprised of players from their World Cup triumph in Cape Town.
"You've got to put everything away that you've done before, almost," Watson said.
"There's always that added rivalry when we do play New Zealand, it's exciting, it's fierce, it's fast.
"We haven't played them in quite a long time, obviously not at the World Cup ... and not at Comm Games either.
"So we're really excited, the group's really excited, we've had an awesome week in camp.
"We're just ready to go now."
For their part, a young Silver Ferns team aren't expecting the Australians to be distracted by their pay saga.
"All we can do is wish them the best pretty much and I know that they're a strong team regardless, I think that they'll come through," captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio said.
The Silver Ferns finished fourth at the World Cup and are coming off a testing series against England.
They will attempt to catch Australia on the hop.
"We've got a young team so you should expect a lot of energy," Ekenasio said.
"These are always really big games for us anytime that the Ferns face Australia.
"Obviously, it's always big clashes, there's a lot of rivalry, there's a lot of emotions, you can definitely expect that.
"I think that this game will set the tone, will set the benchmark of how the rest of the series will play out as well."
