West Coast Fever trio Courtney Bruce, Verity Charles and Jess Anstiss will join the Origin Australian Diamonds as they take on the New Zealand Silver Ferns in a four-match Constellation Cup test series in New Zealand from March 2-7.
The matches will be played at Christchurch Arena on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd March and then at Trustpower Baypark in Tauranga on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th March.
The Origin Diamonds plan to travel to Christchurch on Monday 15 February and prepare for the series during 14 days of quarantine at a managed international quarantine facility there.
During this time, athletes and team staff will remain in solo hotel quarantine. The first five days of quarantine will see all athletes and staff remain in their hotel rooms and, from day five, athletes will be able to access the hotel gym in small groups. Then, from day seven, athletes and staff will be able to leave hotel rooms only to train on court and in the gym.
Ahead of the Constellation Cup tour, the Origin Diamonds squad will gather on Thursday 11 February for a four-day pre-embarkation camp at a location to be determined. From this camp, all squad members deemed fit to play will travel to New Zealand for the series.
Netball Australia is working closely with the Australian Government on the process and travel arrangements.
Origin Diamonds Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich is looking forward to her first tour with the team.
“Whilst the environment surrounding this tournament is unique, our team are working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that our squad will be as prepared as they possibly can be to take on the Silver Ferns coming out of two weeks quarantine,” she said.
“I feel confident that we will embrace each challenge and experience as we look to learn, evolve and build towards our marquee events. The Diamonds are absolute professionals in their approach and they’re now fully focused on preparing the body, mind and team for the upcoming series.
“In bringing the entire squad into a camp prior to our departure to New Zealand, we will bring our game plan to life on court and build on our connections prior to the team having to move into
quarantine, and the final week leading into the first match will let us really refine that approach and ensure we’re ready for game one.”
Netball Australia Executive General Manager of Performance Stacey West is delighted to have the Diamonds back out on court.
“We are very pleased to have confirmation that the Origin Diamonds will be making a return to international netball and thank Netball New Zealand and both the Australian and New Zealand Governments for their assistance in making this tour possible,” she said.
“Our players, through Suncorp Super Netball in 2020, have learnt to be agile and adaptable and this tour will be no different. We will look at innovative ways to prepare to take on our biggest rival in what has been a long-awaited encounter.
“We have a new-look squad and staffing panel and we’re confident this tour is going to be a great first steppingstone that will allow us to explore our capabilities and strengths as we move towards our pinnacle events in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Netball World Cup.”
Executive General Manager of Origin Retail, Jon Briskin, mirrored West’s excitement for the tour.
“Like netball fans across the country, we are thrilled to see the return of the Constellation Cup and look forward to the latest instalment in this classic rivalry between Australia and New Zealand after such a challenging year,” he said.
All Constellation Cup matches will be broadcast live on either Nine or 9Gem and the Netball Live Official App, with broadcast details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The 2020 Constellation Cup was postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on international travel. Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand are hoping to complete two Constellation Cup tournaments in 2021, one in March and one in October.
This Constellation Cup test series is an official International Netball Federation tournament and will count towards world rankings.
