Bruce Shines in International Debut
Saturday the 26th of August marked a milestone for Western Australian netball when Courtney Bruce became the first home grown talent to debut for the Samsung Australian Diamonds since Kate Beveridge back in 2008.
Bruce was given the call up in Australia’s first game of the Netball Quad Series against the English Roses, where she took to the court as goal-keeper in the side’s starting seven, making her the 172nd player to represent Australia.
In a hard fought game the Diamonds came out four goal winners, using a home ground advantage and the support of the crowd to their advantage.
A strong start from the Roses proved why they are one of the top teams in the world, scoring three quick goals before Australia could register on the board.
This domination was short lived as the Australian defence line turned over ball after ball allowing their side to take a five goal lead into the first break.
Unchanged into the second quarter the home side continued to push ahead entering the half time break with a comfortable 10 goal lead, 32 to 22.
Australia saw half-time as an opportunity to make some changes, bringing Tegan Philip into goal attack and Jo Weston into goal defence.
On the back of changes made by the Roses late in the first half, the visitors came out firing after the main break making inroads on the scoreboard in order to enter three quarter time just six goals behind.
The Roses continued to push in the final term however Australia managed to hold on to bring home their first win for the Series.
Diamonds Head Coach, Lisa Alexander was happy with her side’s opening half saying “I knew they could do it, that’s the thing that I was delighted about, particularly the first half.”
“I knew that that was the sort of level of netball that they were capable of. We just have stuff to work on for the second half.”
With the Diamonds’ defenders playing an integral role in their win, Courtney Bruce was named Samsung Player of the Match with five intercepts, eight deflections and four defensive rebounds.
Last night, the 30th of August, saw the Australians play in their second Quad Series match in Canberra, taking on the South Africa SPAR Proteas.
The home side again came out on top however it was no easy ride with the South Africans pushing right to the final whistle.
With the final margin measuring just six, it was the first time South Africa had been defeated by Australia by a single figure margin since 1967.
The Australian’s reversed their start from their first game, this time scoring four goals before their opponents could sink one.
Despite a slow start the Proteas soon found their feet finishing the first quarter just three goals behind, 14 to 11.
As the game continued the Diamonds were unable to shake their competitors, making a number of changes in the hopes of pulling ahead to a more comfortable lead.
Half time saw the scores draw level before the Australians took the margin back out to five goals at three-quarter time.
The final quarter saw Alexander bring captain and Western Australian raised shooter, Caitlin Bassett on to the court to replace Caitlin Thwaites in goal shooter.
The transition was faultless, both players fulfilling their roles as they were given the opportunity to do so.
As the final whistle blew the scoreboard read 58 to 52.
Alexander said “you have to respect your opposition. South Africa are fit, they are getting more and more skillful.”
“They are very tight one-on-one markers. We have to do more on our prelims and timing together. We are still working on that.”
Speaking of the challenging matches that the Diamonds have already played, Alexander stated that “we are all getting closer at the top.”
“It’s fantastic for international netball. We know we have to do our homework, we have to analyse what is happening.”
The Samsung Australian Diamonds will finish off their Quad Series campaign in what is set to be a blockbuster against the New Zealand Silver Ferns on Sunday.