The world champion Silver Ferns have been given a "schooling" by trans-Tasman rivals Australia in their Northern Quad Series opener, slumping to a 53-39 defeat at London's Copper Box Arena.
In their first encounter since New Zealand took out the 2021 Constellation Cup series on home soil, the Kiwi women had little answer for the Diamonds onslaught, conceding five straight goals in the opening exchanges and never challenging from there.
As both coaches rang the changes over the closing stages, the Ferns took a morale-boosting 10-6 victory in the final quarter, but it proved a case of much too little, too late in their biggest defeat to the Aussies since October 2018.
"We got a schooling," admits coach Dame Noeline Taurua. "They were very good, you've got to pay them that respect.
"In the first 5-10 minutes, we coughed up a lot of ball and when that happens, we're always on the back foot, as we were today."
After losing to England at home last year, the Ferns were hoping build on some of the new players introduced during that series, while Dame Noeline also inserted Kayla Johnson (formerly Cullen) straight into the starting line-up at wing defence, after three years away from international netball.
But from the start, New Zealand struggled to overcome the Aussies' defensive pressure in the attacking third. Australia were able to feed the shooting circle 26 times in the opening quarter, compared to 14 for their counterparts, gifting their shooters ample opportunity to extend their lead.
Gretel Bueta and Steph Wood were a perfect 17/17 through that first period to set the foundation for victory.
Taurua fielded Maia Wilson and Tiana Metuarau under goal, and Wilson looked far more assured than she had during the domestic season, eventually converting 24/26 attempts for the match.
But neither Metuarau nor fellow rookie Grace Nweke could provide her with the support she needed to mount a comeback, as the match wore on. Nweke's added size provided a momentary challenge to the Diamond defenders, but they quickly adjusted.
Trailling by nine goals at halftime, New Zealand went scoreless for almost five minutes after the restart, as their deficit swelled by another seven goals.
Only when Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich began running her bench in the final quarter did the Ferns make any kind of run in response.
"There were some good moments, mainly in the second half, especially defensively," reflects Dame Noeline. "I thought we were able to turn over some ball and were quite structured, but probably in our attacking end, we weren't able to do the job in our own positions.
"As individuals, we will take away at our shooting end and what it feels like to be under that intense pressure, and still be able to put the shot up and do your job.
"Defensively, we still need to turn over ball and there needs to be more pressure on the ball, instead of dropping off to give them more space."
The Silver Ferns don't have long to absorb those lessons, because they taken on hosts England on Monday morning, after the Roses dispatched South Africa 71-47.
Australia 53 (Bueta 31/33, Wood 19/22, Koenan 3/4) New Zealand 39 (Wilson 24/26, Metuarau 12/18, Nweke 3/5)
Join us at 5am Monday for live updates of the Silver Ferns v England Northern Quad Series encounter
