The Australian Diamonds will play their fifth game in five days when they meet Malawi, before getting their first day off of the Netball World Cup.
But world number six Malawi will present the biggest challenge for the Diamonds so far, with the Queens losing just one match in their run to the preliminaries.
While team disharmony has threatened to derail their Cup campaign, Malawi still have their sights set on a first semi final appearance – and they’ll need a win over Australia to get there.
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The Diamonds have their own team headaches – who will coach Stacey Marinkovich start in that squad of 12?
Australian netball great Catherine Cox didn’t like what she saw from the Sophie Garbin-Steph Wood combination on Monday night.
“Probably not the way (Marinkovich) would have liked to pan out – brilliance from Sophie Garbin again … the issue though is that her combination with Steph Wood, not so good,” she explained.
“I wanted to see Steph Wood have a bigger contribution when there was someone like a Sophie Garbin on.
Netball World Cup: Australia v Scotland | 17:34
“(She shot) 5/8 – so not big numbers (in a half). That’s really not where Steph Wood is excelling.”
Cox said it was like Marinkovich had the “roulette wheel” going when it came to her starting seven, but we can expect to see that settle ahead of Thursday’s blockbuster against England.
“No doubt she’s got more up her sleeve,” Cox said.
Australia’s clash with the Malawi Queens is from 7pm AEST.
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