Stacey Marinkovich announced as new Australian Diamonds coach
THE highly anticipated wait is over with West Coast Fever coach Stacey Marinkovich appointed as the new Australian Diamonds coach. Marinkovich is set to be the 15th Diamonds coach and boasts a wealth of experience having coached the Fever for the past five years. She has also plied her trade on the international stage as a Specialist Centre Court coach of the Australian Development Squad and Australian Fast5 head coach.
After guiding her Fever side to a Super Netball Grand Final in 2018, Marinkovich was awarded the Joyce Brown Coach of the Year award. Marinkovich has no shortage of knowledge regarding netball pathways having played at the elite level for many years, apart of the Perth Oriels squad and then the West Coast Fever team prior to becoming the coach.
When speaking to Netball Australia about the appointment, Marinkovich shared her excitement and hopes for the future.
“This is something I have been working towards my entire professional life and I’m absolutely honoured and humbled that Netball Australia have granted me the opportunity to lead the world’s best netball team,” she said.
“I am acutely aware of the expectations, the history and responsibility of taking on such a position and I am very much looking forward to growing the success of the Origin Diamonds program.
“Coaching the Origin Diamonds is not about me as a coach. It is about the team that is representing the nation and Netball Australia, and everything I will do in my time as Head Coach is about the quality of that representation.”
Currently contracted to the Fever, Marinkovich is set to step away from the side at the end of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season to solely focus on the Diamonds in preparation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and 2023 World Cup in South Africa.
Although there is no certainty around an international season due to the COVID-19 pandemic the appointment at least provides closure for many netball fans and most importantly players. The 2020/21 Diamonds squad will be announced at the end of the Suncorp Super Netball home and away season with plenty of high quality players to choose from.
Diamonds delve into positives despite disapointing result
DESPITE having already lost the series, the Australian Diamonds still came away from Wednesday night’s final Constellation Cup match with something to smile about having convincingly won the final test. Reflecting on it all post match, Diamonds’ head coach Stacey Marinkovich described the importance of winning the match to bookend the year as “huge”. “I […]
Silver Ferns don’t clean sweep but still come away happy
WEDNESDAY’s final Constellation Cup match brought mixed emotions for New Zealand, because although they lost that match they were still able to celebrate post match because they had already won the whole series. Speaking after Wednesday night’s final test of the series, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua was reflective of it all. “I thought […]
Kelpies big winners, but big picture shows plenty to still be done
DESPITE how things went for the Australian Diamonds in their recent Constellation Cup series against New Zealand, things could not have been more different for the Australian Kelpies, who clean swept their series with the Kiwis after a 71 to 39 goal win in game four yesterday. Speaking after yesterday’s match, star Kelpies’ defender Josh […]
Diamonds win match, but Kiwis still come away with big prize
THE AUSTRALIAN Diamonds have avoided an undesired series whitewash against New Zealand, winning the final match of the 2024 Constellation Cup 63 goals to 50. Proceedings were tight early, but then the Diamonds were able to really put their foot down in the second and third quarters to really open up the game on […]
Kiwis claim series over disappointed Aussies
NEW ZEALAND has won the 2024 Constellation Cup after beating Australia 61-43 in the third test to claim the series. Diamonds’ coach Stacey Marinkovich swung the changes pre match, making three changes to the match day squad and a couple to the starting seven, but ultimately the outcome was the same result. By contrast New […]
Kiwis go two up, but not all hope lost for Aussies
NEW ZEALAND’S stranglehold of Constellation Cup matches in New Zealand has continued, after downing Australia again to take a 2-0 lead in the 2024 series. In what might have felt like a sense of déjà vu for Australia and its fans, New Zealand had a strong first half which really catapulted them to the successful […]
Celtic Cup squads begin to be announced
THREE of the four nations competing at the upcoming Celtic Cup have announced their squads for the series over the last few days. Northern Ireland has arguably the biggest names of the three announced squads so far, with Netball Super League stalwarts Michelle Magee, Emma Magee and Niamh Cooper all included. Northern Ireland coach Shenoah […]
Netball to continue as Commonwealth Games sport
AFTER much upheaval and uncertainty, some more certainty has been given around the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Set to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 2026, it will be a scaled down event, with only 10 sports running. Luckily for netball, it is one of the events that survived the cull, and […]
Kiwis crush Aussies to cause upset and go one up
NEW ZEALAND has put behind it some poor recent results and kept their strangehold on matches against Australia played in New Zealand, after winning Test 1 of the Constellation Cup 64-50. The game started out tight, but New Zealand surged ahead in the second term, turning a one goal quarter time lead into a nine […]
[…] victory (80-56) going the way of the Fever and seeing the side slip back into the top four. With Fever head coach Stacey Marinkovich announced as the new Australian Diamonds coach on Saturday, the Fever came out flying to prove their coach was well and truly up to the job and did not skip a […]
[…] have now had an opportunity to step up and prove they are capable of an Australian Diamonds berth. With a new head coach at the helm, the 2020/21 Diamonds squad could have a new look for the upcoming international season. With a […]