Australia may have wrapped up the England Series with victory in game two, but Roses coach Jess Thirlby says her side won’t be treating Thursday’s clash as a dead rubber.
It’s been a disappointing first two games for England, after they suffered a heartbreaking one-goal loss in the first encounter before failing to take their opportunities in the second match in Sydney.
Thirlby admits her players haven’t been at peak fitness after a bruising Uganda series before heading Down Under.
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But there’s no excuses from the Roses coach given they’ve shown in patches they can match it with the best in the Diamonds.
“The bad taste in the mouth for us is we know we were in the game. We are making teams like Australia pay attention to us to beat us,” Thirlby said.
“They dismantled us a little bit (in game two).
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“Were we still good enough to compete? Yes, we were so it’s disappointing it has blow out a little in the end.
“They’ve worn us down. (We) could have closed the game to four or five and it could have been a different game. But we don’t like the could’ve and should’ves.
“The Diamonds have won the series, but the series isn’t done – that’s the first psychological bit for us.”
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich says she’s been pleased with her side’s “squad” mentality as she’s made more changes for game three.
Game one hero Donnell Wallam comes in for her second international game, after missing game two with illness.
She replaces Cara Koenen, who has been a factor in both this series and the prior Constellation Cup.
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Kate Moloney returns to the midcourt in place of concussed Maddy Proud.
Proud didn’t make the trip north and will remain monitored by Australian medical staff as she recovers from an accidental elbow to the face from teammate Kiera Austin.
SQUADS
Australia – Kiera Austin, Courtney Bruce, Sophie Dwyer, Sophie Garbin, Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau, Kate Moloney, Amy Parmenter, Jamie-Lee Price, Maddy Turner, Donnell Wallam, Jo Weston
England – Imogen Allison, Eleanor Cardwell, Jade Clarke, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Funmi Fadoju, Layla Guscoth, Jo Harten, Alice Harvey, Helen Housby, Hannah Joseph, Laura Malcolm, Geva Mentor, Nat Metcalf, Liv Tchine, Fran Williams
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