The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, the

Constellation Cup The Constellation Cup is an international netball competition contested by Australia and New Zealand. The competition features a series of test matches. The two teams have competed for the trophy since 2010. Australia won the inaugural series ...

, the

Netball Quad Series The Netball Quad Series is an annual international netball series contested by the national teams of Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Background In December 2015, the governing bodies of netball in Australia, New Zealand, E ...

and the

Fast5 Netball World Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The ...

. They have also represented Australia at the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

. Australia made their

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut in 1938. As of 2021, Australia have been World champions on 11 occasions and Commonwealth champions on 4 occasions. They are regularly ranked number one in the

INF World Rankings The World Netball Rankings are published by the World Netball to make it possible to compare the relative strengths of internationally active national netball teams. Initially, rankings were based on the results from the World Netball Championship ...

History

Early years

On 20 August 1938, at

Royal Park, Melbourne Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks (). It is located north of the Melbourne CBD, in Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville. Many sporting facilities are provided including the North Park Tennis Club, Royal P ...

, Australia defeated

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

40–11. This was the first netball Test between Australia and New Zealand. It was also the world's first international netball match. The Australia team included

Lorna McConchie Lorna Jean McConchie (22 July 1914 – 9 December 2001) was a former Australia netball international and national team head coach. In 1938 McConchie played for Australia in their first international match against New Zealand. McConchie was la ...

and the umpires included Anne Clark. Australia were due to tour

in 1940. However the tour was cancelled due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1948, an Australia team eventually toured New Zealand for the first time, winning all three test matches. The Australia team included

Myrtle Craddock Myrtle Baylis (1 May 1920 – 23 September 2014), also known as Myrtle Craddock, was an Australia women's Test cricketer and an Australia netball international. In 1948 she made her debut for both national teams, just five months apart. Betwe ...

. In 1956, with a team coached by McConchie and captained by Pat McCarthy, Australia toured

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. During the tour Australia played their first tests against

and

Rivalry with New Zealand

Australia's main rivals in international netball are

. Between

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, the two teams dominated the

World Netball Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and ...

and

tournaments. Since 2010 the two teams have also competed for the

. Notable and memorable clashes have included the finals of the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, 1999 and 2011 World Netball Championships, the finals of the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the final match of the

2013 Constellation Cup The 2013 Constellation Cup was the 4th Constellation Cup series played between Australia and New Zealand. The series, also known as the New World Netball Series, featured five netball test matches, played in September and October 2013. The Aus ...

Tournament history

Netball World Cup

Australia has competed at every

and/or INF Netball World Cup since the 1963 inaugural tournament. Between

and

, Australia have won 11 championships. With a team coached by

, captained by Joyce Brown and also featuring

Margaret Caldow Margaret Elaine Caldow (born 28 November 1941), also known as Marg Caldow, is a former Australia netball international and a former England head coach. She represented Australia at the 1963, 1975 and the 1979 World Netball Championships, winn ...

and Wilma Ritchie, Australia were the inaugural champions after winning all ten matches during the 1963 tournament. In 2005, the 1963 team were inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

. In the

final, Australia defeated reigning champions,

, 53–52 at a packed

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

. New Zealand held a one point lead at each change, Australia then went ahead with minutes to go. With seconds to spare,

Roselee Jencke Roselee Jencke is a former Australia netball international and netball coach. As a player, Jencke was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medal at the 1991 World Netball Championships and the silver medals at the 1985 World Ga ...

made a match-saving intercept to ensure a one-goal victory for Australia. The match, which was broadcast live on

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

, was hailed as one of the greatest netball games ever.

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

, the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

and a lifelong sports enthusiast, called it the best sporting contest he had seen. It was also the first of a hat-trick of World titles for Australia. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, the team and their head coach, Joyce Brown, were all awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

. In 2012 they were inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. In the 1999 final, Australia were trailing New Zealand 28–34 after three quarters. However, they snatched the title 42–41 with a last minute goal from

Sharelle McMahon Sharelle Jane McMahon (born 12 August 1977) is an Australian former netball player who captained the Australia national netball team. She played in the goal attack and goal shooter positions. Domestic career Born in Bamawm, Victoria, McMahon ...

. The win gave Australia its third straight world title. In 2014, the 1999 team became the third Australia national netball team to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

World Games

Between 1985 and 1993, Australia competed at the

, winning one gold and two silver medals.

Commonwealth Games

Australia has competed at every netball tournament at the Commonwealth Games. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

they defeated

in a one-off match when netball was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

. Between 1998 and 2018 they have played in every tournament final, winning three gold and three silver medals. In 1998,

Jill McIntosh Jill McIntosh is a former Australia netball international and national team head coach. As a player, McIntosh was a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 1983 World Netball Championships. She later coached Australia at th ...

guided Australia to the inaugural Commonwealth title after they defeated New Zealand 42–39 in the final. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Australia defended their title, again after defeating New Zealand in the final, this time courtesy of a

goal in double extra time. During the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, McMahon, now team captain, carried the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

for the overall

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

team. In 2014, Australia won their third Commonwealth title after defeating New Zealand 58–40 in the final.

Caitlin Bassett Caitlin Bassett (born 23 May 1988) is a former Australian netballer, who played for Giants Netball and the Australia national netball team. Between 2017 and 2021 Bassett captained Australia in international netball tests. Career Caitlin played ...

scored 49 from 53 at 92% accuracy to clinch the title.

Constellation Cup

Since 2010 Australia and

have competed for the

Netball Quad Series

Since

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, Australia have competed in the

, playing against

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Fast5 Netball World Series

When competing at the

, the team is referred to as the ''Fast5 Flyers''.

Home venues

The Diamonds have played their home matches at various home venues around

. The courts they most recently used include:

Notable players

2022 Commonwealth Games Squad

Notable past players

;Captains ;Award winners

Head coaches

Sponsorship

Honours

/ INF Netball World Cup **''Winners'':

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 1979, 1983,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, 1999, 2007,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: 11 **''Runners up'': 1967,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, 2003, 2019: 4 *

**''Winners'': 1998,

, 2014: 3 **''Runners Up'':

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, 2018: 3 *

**''Winners'': 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019: 9 **''Runners Up'': 2012,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: 2 *

**''Winners'':

, 2017 (January/February), 2018 (September), 2018 (January), 2019: 5 **''Runners Up'': 2017 (August/September): 1 *

**''Winners'': 1993: 1 **''Runners up'': 1985, 1989: 2 *

**''Runners up'':

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 2014,

: 3

Controversy

22/10/22 - In a separate blistering statement, Rinehart and Hancock slammed “virtue signaling” by sports teams after sensationally tearing up its $15 million netball deal.https://www.news.com.au/sport/netball/super-netball-premiers-west-coast-fever-collateral-damage-in-15-million-sponsorship-saga/news-story/df6cbd9d22c7c28c1f01c2189da610cf

References

External links

Official team website

Netball Australia website
{{Constellation Cup

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

National netball teams of Asia National netball teams of Oceania