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Why you’d be mad to miss the Netball World Cup

Silver Ferns jack-in-the-box Laura Langman. Photo: Getty

Silver Ferns jack-in-the-box Laura Langman. Photo: Getty

The Netball World Cup gets underway in Sydney on Friday.

With the best players in the world descending on the Harbour City, there will be no shortage of star attractions at Allphones Arena.

Fox Sports is televising every game live, while Channel 10 is broadcasting Sunday’s Australia-New Zealand match live, as well as any subsequent knockout games featuring Australia.

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These are the reasons you should not miss this feast of netball.

Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander. Photo: AAP

Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander. Photo: AAP

Can Australia handle the heat?

Pressure can do funny things.

Only twice in 13 editions of the tournament has the host nation emerged victorious (although with Australia having won or shared 10 of those, we could perhaps argue that’s because we haven’t hosted more often).

Trinidad and Tobago shared the title with Australia and New Zealand in 1979 when they staged the tournament, and the Aussies won in 1991 when Sydney played host.

But being an overwhelming favourite on home soil has the tendency to cause things to come unstuck, especially in big games towards the business end of a tournament.

How Australia copes with the pressure will make for fascinating viewing.

Jamaica’s twin towers

Jamaica are ranked No.4 in the world, and commentators as esteemed as former Diamonds skipper Liz Ellis have tipped they will cause some big headaches for the heavyweights.

And who would count them out when they boast scoring firepower like Romelda Aiken like Jhaniele Fowler-Reid?

These two attackers, who play for the Queensland Firebirds and Southern Steel respectively, finished first and second on the ANZ Championship top-scorer table.

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.

Jamaica's Romelda Aiken shapes as a star of the tournament. Photo: AAP

Jamaica’s Romelda Aiken shapes as a star of the tournament. Photo: AAP

Australia v New Zealand

It’s been nearly two years and nine Tests since world No.2 New Zealand beat arch-rivals Australia, and 12 years since their last world title.

The Silver Ferns will be desperate to atone for their thumping in the final of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last year, while Lisa Alexander’s Australians will be keen to keep the foot on the throat of their fiercest rivals.

There’s never a shortage of fireworks when these two sides meet, so make sure you tune in at 2:20pm on Sunday.

Norma Plummer’s return

Plummer coached Australia to the past two World Cup titles, and her tactical nous is revered around the world.

Now she returns as coach of South Africa, who had their best ever finish at a World Cup in 1995 when they finished second.

The word is that Plummer has already given the South African side a boost, and Diamonds coach Alexander is convinced her predecessor will turn them into contenders.

Time is against Plummer, having only been in charge of the Proteas since June.

But the spritely 70-year-old has a fierce competitive spirit that means she’ll be pushing her side hard to cause some shocks.

Laura Langman

Silver Ferns jack-in-the-box Laura Langman. Photo: Getty

Silver Ferns jack-in-the-box Laura Langman. Photo: Getty

The 29-year-old New Zealander was voted the world’s best player in a 2013 poll in The Guardian.

The dynamic midcourter made her international debut in 2005 and rarely plays a bad game.

Langman says her sporting hero is UFC champion Ronda Rousey, and she displays plenty of the American’s fighting instincts on the court.

Dana Johannsen, chief sports reporter for the New Zealand Herald, says she is the country’s most valuable player.

“Her fearless drives on attack and ability to hit the top of the circle at speed is a marvel, while her ability to wear an opponent down by running with them all day is a huge asset on defence,” Johannsen wrote.

Can the minnows cause a surprise?

Watching the unfancied nations is part of the appeal of every World Cup.

Uganda, Singapore and Zambia look set to be the biggest battlers this year. Of that group, the Ugandans look the most likely to upset the order.

Nicknamed the She Cranes, this will be Uganda’s first World Cup since 1979.

Seen as a future powerhouse, they are led by Peace Proscovia, who will become the first Ugandan to play professionally in the UK after signing with Loughborough Lightning.


The Netball World Cup runs from August 7-16 at Sydney Olympic Park.

Competing nations: Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica, Malawi, South Africa, Wales, Scotland, Fiji, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Zambia

Australia’s group fixtures:

v Trinidad and Tobago, Friday Aug 7, 9:05pm at Allphones Arena

v Barbados, Saturday Aug 8, 3:20pm at Allphones Arena

v New Zealand, Sunday Aug 9, 2:20pm at Allphones Arena

Foxtel will show every match live, while Channel 10 will show Sunday’s Diamonds match against New Zealand, and potential play-off matches, live on Ten or One.

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