Constellation Cup to be rescheduled

The Diamonds were set to host the Silver Ferns in Brisbane and Cairns this October, before travelling to Auckland and Wellington for the final matches.

The series will be rescheduled due to the closure of the trans-Tasman travel bubble and the challenges around international travel.

Netball Australia is working closely with Netball New Zealand to determine dates and locations for the series.

“There is a joint commitment between Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand to ensure the Constellation Cup goes ahead,” said Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan.

“We want our netball fans to be able to watch this sport’s greatest rivalry and this series forms a crucial part of the Diamonds preparation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.”

The Diamonds are also scheduled to host England Netball’s Vitality Roses next month, with dates and locations also being worked through with Netball England.

Netball Australia is working with federal and state governments on the Roses’ entry into Australia following their matches against the Silver Ferns in New Zealand.

Ahead of the series the Victorian-based Diamonds are completing 14 days quarantine in Perth, in line with Western Australian government requirements, while the NSW-based players remain in Queensland following the Suncorp Super Netball season. The Diamonds squad will assemble when dates and venues for the Roses series are confirmed.

Collingwood Magpies head coach Nicole Richardson has also travelled to Perth as the Diamonds assistant coach for the upcoming series.

Origin Australian Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich welcomed Richardson to the program.

“We are delighted to have highly-regarded coach Nicole Richardson join the Diamonds for the upcoming series,” Marinkovich said.

“Nicole brings a strong defensive skillset and a well-rounded approach to building high performance systems and structures.

“We are looking forward to working with Nicole to create a highly competitive training environment, new layering to our game plan and attacking the upcoming matches.”