This was to be the first international sporting experience for many of the team. The excitement was evident, the opportunity to represent New Zealand proudly and learn from the experience of playing against a team who have been training together for twice as long as us.
The game was set down for 3x15 thirds.
The game started at a very high tempo with both teams eager to put months of preparation in to place. Initially, Australia started the more controlled of the two teams and settled into a rhythm more quickly. The ability of the more experienced Australians to control the rebound and maintain possession was evident early on. Spencer Te Pou slotted our first two goals which was later followed by Mikey Graham converting a free pass and we ended the first third 9-4 down.
Australia had been attacking strongly through their female players and both teams made changes to test different combinations on court. We started to play with more structure in the second stanza and began to dominate on court to create better attacking opportunities. Sarah Bateup scored her first international goal to bring the score to 10-5 and later in the third Alisha Muir nailed a glorious long shot as we fought back to trail by three at 11-8 at the end of the second third.
After more substitutions, Australia played with increased intensity over the final third as our players began to become more weary. The game ended at 21-11 to Australia as they were able to create and convert more simple scoring opportunities. One strong positive was the reduction in the number of mistakes and turnovers we made from contact fouls. However, the referees in the tournament may see life differently so we do need to keep right on top of that aspect of the game.
This first hit out was a great learning experience for the team and will put us in a much better frame of mind heading in to the first game of tournament.
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