Australian netballers target New Zealand

There will be plenty of talent on display away from the Australian side as well, with goal-scoring machine Romelda Aiken set to take the court for Jamaica, while Shelby Koh will be one to watch for Singapore despite their long odds to claim the top prize.

I really do believe we will see the Diamonds take on England for the gold medal and if that’s the case, it’s going to be absolutely fascinating showdown.

“It’s fabulous that 20 years later the Trophy is back in Sydney and has toured the Central West”, McCormick said.

Aiken scored 648 of her 779 attempts (83.2 per cent), while Fowler-Reid made 607 of 697 at 87.1 per cent. The two also led the league for rebounds, meaning they will give even the very best of defences massive problems.

“Barbados only got off the plane yesterday, we were aware of that”.

Throw any combination of seven from this squad on court, she says, and they will still arguably be the best in the world. “The people that we have come across are quite passionate about their sport and everybody has been wishing us luck – we feel like we have got some great support”.

Granted, they are without injured midcourt star Madi Robinson, along with retired defender Bianca Chatfield.

The goal is to claim consecutive world and Commonwealth titles in consecutive years for the first time since 1998-99.

Trinidad and Tobagos other matches in Group A will be against New Zealand on Saturday and Barbados on Sunday, both at the Allphones Arena.

“And make no mistake, we’re our harshest critics”.

The Kiwis won each quarter of Friday’s game convincingly but remain untested under any sort of pressure in looking to win their first World Cup since 2003.

Yet if the defence is truly outstanding, and the Kim(s) Green and Ravaillion wing-centre pairing also has strong appeal, a shooting circle so reliant on scoring colossus Caitlin Bassett continues to loom as the Diamonds’ potential weak spot.

“But they’ll be fielding a completely different side to the one at the Asian Championships, so we’ll need to quickly assess them and adapt to the new team’s play”.

The New Zealand teams’ dire record against Australian opposition in the recent trans-Tasman club competition has prompted suggestions that England may present the bigger threat this time.

Which will not be enough, of course, for although the name and format of the event have been tweaked for 2015, expect the Diamonds’ dominance to continue. But no, not just yet.