{"id":146441,"date":"2025-09-16T03:18:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T03:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146441\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T03:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T03:18:07","slug":"australia-diamonds-announce-netball-squads-for-test-series-against-new-zealand-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146441\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia Diamonds announce netball squads for Test series against New Zealand, South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Goal-shooter Lucy Austin is a shock selection in the Australian netball squad to face South Africa, winning a place after initially being included as an “invitee” to their training camp.<\/p>\n

A dual premiership player for the Adelaide Thunderbirds before signing to play with the Giants in 2026, Austin is one of four potential debutantes named for the three-Test series, which begins in Bendigo on Saturday, October 4.<\/p>\n

A second, stronger 15-player squad has been named for the four-Test Constellation Cup against New Zealand, which follows the matches against the Proteas.<\/p>\n

Netball players to get share of Diamonds’ revenue in landmark deal<\/a><\/p>\n

Netball Australia and the players’ association strike a landmark revenue-sharing deal as part of a three-year collective player agreement.<\/p>\n

Austin’s call-up comes despite the 23-year-old not featuring in Super Netball since April, dropped to the reserves competition after minimal game time in two of Adelaide’s first three matches.<\/p>\n

As well as Austin, Lightning defender Ashleigh Ervin, and mid-court players Hannah Mundy (Vixens) and Alice Teague-Neeld (Fever) could also make their first appearances in the green and gold.<\/p>\n

Coach Stacey Marinkovich is looking to build depth with the Commonwealth Games and World Cup in the next two years.<\/p>\n

“I am really excited about what this group can produce across the next seven Test matches,” Marinkovich said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Our athletes have come into this year’s Diamonds’ environment with conviction and purpose. There is a real spark about the way they’re approaching every session.”<\/p>\n

Sunday Aryang, Sophie Dwyer and Amy Parmenter are the changes, substituting Jo Weston, Teague-Neeld and Austin as Australia contends for the trans-Tasman silverware.<\/p>\n

Vice-captain Paige Hadley will not participate in the upcoming series after announcing her pregnancy in August.<\/p>\n

As well as Bendigo, the Diamonds will play the South Africans in Wollongong (October 8) and Adelaide (October 12).<\/p>\n

The first matches of the Constellation Cup will be played at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena (October 17) and Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena (October 22), before two games in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The Silver Ferns claimed the 2024 title, winning three games to one.<\/p>\n

“New talent has shown they are ready to take the court and earn their Diamonds dress, however, match line-ups will always be decided by performance,” Marinkovich said.<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

“There’s a real fire in this group, and the squad’s mentality to challenge and support each other is the strongest it’s ever been.”<\/p>\n

Mundy is one of 12 players to remain in the Diamonds team for the Constellation Cup, which mirrors a relatively unchanged line-up from the 2024 squad.<\/p>\n

Sunday Aryang, Sophie Dwyer and Amy Parmenter are the changes, substituting Jo Weston, Teague-Neeld and Austin as Australia contends for the trans-Tasman silverware.<\/p>\n

Vice-captain Paige Hadley will not participate in the upcoming series after announcing her pregnancy in August.<\/p>\n

As well as Bendigo, the Diamonds will play the South Africans in Wollongong (October 8) and Adelaide (October 12).<\/p>\n

The first matches of the Constellation Cup will be played at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena (October 17) and the Sydney SuperDome (October 22), before two games in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The Silver Ferns claimed the 2024 title, winning three games to one.<\/p>\n

Diamonds squad vs South Africa<\/p>\n

Kiera Austin, Lucy Austin, Courtney Bruce, Ashleigh Ervin, Sophie Garbin, Matilda Garrett, Georgie Horjus, Sarah Klau, Cara Koenen, Kate Moloney, Hannah Mundy, Jamie-Lee Price, Alice Teague-Neeld, Liz Watson, Joanna Weston.<\/p>\n

Diamonds squad vs New Zealand<\/p>\n

Sunday Aryang, Kiera Austin, Courtney Bruce, Sophie Dwyer, Ashleigh Ervin, Sophie Garbin, Matilda Garrett, Georgie Horjus, Sarah Klau, Cara Koenen, Kate Moloney, Hannah Mundy, Amy Parmenter, Jamie-Lee Price, Liz Watson.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Goal-shooter Lucy Austin is a shock selection in the Australian netball squad to face South Africa, winning a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5844,64,63,24718,9736,44,87875,99059,588],"class_list":["post-146441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-abc-sport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-diamonds","tag-netball","tag-news","tag-proteas","tag-silver-ferns","tag-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}