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It has been left to the Australian ladies to restore the pride of this beleaguered nation. Firstly, the female cricketers rolled over their English counterparts to all but clinch their version of the Ashes before the netballers overcame their trans-Tasman foes in a nail-biting climax to the World Cup.
In this day and age of extended competitions aimed at maximizing revenues via increased exposure and television audiences it is refreshing to witness a World Cup completed within 10 days, with even this having been extended from the seven used previously.
Another aim is generally to provide exposure for developing nations and in this regard the tournament can be considered a success with relatively few completely one-sided contests, other than Sri Lanka in the Preliminary rounds and a youthful Welsh side in the Qualifications matches notwithstanding, although the latter did manage to finish on a high by defeating a tired-looking Uganda.
Malawi and South Africa have contested the fifth-place finish in the last four major netball events and Sydney 2015 continued this trend, although both sides appear to now be closer to disrupting the established top-four. Indeed, South Africa has beaten both England and Jamaica in recent years and both teams are closing the gap, which will provide for far more open competitions in years to come.
Malawi entertain with a flamboyant style and use their speed around the court although probably lack a little height. They do demonstrate some consistency with having continued their record of not having lost to a side outside the top six for nearly 10 years.
However, it was South Africa that clinched the fifth-place play-off, overturning a Malawi victory in the preliminary round on the first day of the tournament.
On this occasion the Proteas’ consistency and composure under pressure helped them secure victory in a nail-biting finish. This was demonstrated particularly by Lenize Potgieter who moved up to second place in the tournament best-shooter rankings after scoring 32 goals at an accuracy rate of 94 per cent. This 21-year-old is the future of the South African team who led every quarter.
However, to demonstrate how close this contest was, Malawi equalised on 21 occasions in the match, although the Proteas held on to win 48-46.
Malawi did have the consolation of having the tournament’s leading shooter, Mwai Kumwenda, who finished with 351 goals from eight matches, missing only 31 shots.
Heading into the tournament England had been expected to push hard for the title although defeat to Australia in the group stage and then the Silver Ferns in the semi-final erased their hopes. Having entered the World Cup with high hopes the team led by Tracey Neville (sister of former Manchester United players Gary and Phil) will leave disappointed at not having even reached the final, although their bronze medal match victory over Jamaica was a one-sided event that was realistically over by half-time.
Neville, if given the job on a permanent basis, will surely now have to overhaul an ageing squad and possibly re-invent their style of play. Any new coach will also have to deal with a reputation for ‘choking’ against these top two sides having come close now on so many occasions (think back to the Commonwealth Games), yet ultimately come up short.
However, the excitement levels missing from the penultimate game were more than made up for in an epic final. While it did not meet up to the same double-overtime thrill-levels as 2011 in Singapore, these two long-standing Antipodean foes provided a finale fans around the globe had hoped for.
Having taken 10 of the 13 previous World Cup competitions, including the last two, Australia entered the competition as strong favourites, particularly as they had secured nine consecutive wins over the number two-ranked nation, New Zealand.
However, having recognised the need to change, the Silver Ferns adopted a faster, more dynamic attacking approach while retaining their zonal defence, which provided an intriguing contrast against the more rigid ‘man-marking’ defensive style and long-range shooting of the Australians that has won them so many victories.
Whether the Australians’ record lulled them into a sense of false security or the Kiwis’ new approach caught them by surprise, the third day of competition in the preliminary stages threw the tournament wide open as New Zealand recorded a 52-47 victory.
Entering the final with a 100 per cent record, the largest crowd ever to witness a netball match (over 16,000) were even more ready for the action to begin than might have been expected.
Any supporters of the underdog had hopes raised as the Silver Ferns took the lead although a number of errors in an over-anxious first quarter saw them head to the break with the Australian Diamonds deservedly leading 16-7.
This caused New Zealand to revert to their aggressive attacking style and, despite ‘winning’ each of the next three quarters, they were unable to overturn that initial deficit, eventually conceding defeat to the worthy champions 58-55.
However, it was a fitting end to 10 days of competition that saw 192 players battle over 64 matches with Australia ultimately able to delight an expectant home crowd.
