The Silver Ferns are ready to unleash their fresh blood on the Australian Diamonds, as the first game of the Constellation Cup begins Thursday.
The Kiwis have a raft of youngsters in their squad, including several pacy midcourters, teen shooter Amelia Walmsley and uncapped defender Kate Burley.
"We've got a young team, so I think you should [the public] expect a lot of energy," explains captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio.
New Zealand are trying to win back the trophy, after they lost the series last year. Despite both sides winning two games each, the Diamonds won on goals scored, but Ekansasio believes the fresh energy will bring something new.
"Having those young girls, you know they are pretty fearless as well, so we’ve kind of got to have the ability to unleash them out on court," she said. "For them to go and do what they do best and not feel scared to take on [the Diamonds]... to not be afraid of making mistakes.’
The series has been switched this year in terms of location, meaning the first two games will take place across the Tasman, with Invercargill and Auckland hosting the final two clashes.
Melbourne will host tonight's game at the John Cain Arena and Ekenasio knows just how important it will be.
"There’s a lot of rivalry, there's a lot of emotion, so I think you can definitely expect that," she said. "I think this game will set the tone, the benchmark of how the rest of the series will play out."
The series almost didn’t happen. While the Kiwis have been fully focused on the job at hand, the World Cup winners are in the middle of an ugly pay dispute with Netball Australia over their domestic contracts.
Currently, Australia’s top netballers are all without club contracts for next season, forcing the players association to go public this week with the ongoing drama.
"Obviously, to go public with it is not ideal and something we didn’t want to have to do, but it sort of got to that point," explained Diamonds captain Liz Watson.
Due to the offcourt issues, the Diamonds didn’t officially name their squad for this series until last week, but Watson believes the players will put everything behind them once they step on court.
"We are very professional, we are here with the Diamonds, about to play in a really exciting series," she said. "Obviously there are things bubbling along in the background, but we have a lot of trust in our association."
The first centrepass for today's game will be at 9.30pm (NZ time), with game scheduled for Brisbane on Sunday.
Join Newshub at 9:30pm for live updates of the Silver Ferns v Australia Constellation Cup series opener
