Netball: Sellout as Ferns face Oz

Caitlin Bassett helped the Diamonds to a big win over Barbados. Photo / Getty Images

Soon the guesswork will be over. After trying to make judgements on the strength of the Silver Ferns relative to Australia based on their respective scores from their opening World Cup hitouts, we find out today whether the New Zealand side have gained on the Diamonds from last year.

While today's third-round pool-play match holds much intrigue for spectators, it is a tricky proposition for the coaches of both sides.

Given their recent dominance over the Ferns, Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander might be reluctant to give the Ferns a go against her top lineup so she can keep her powder dry for any meeting later in the tournament.

Waimarama Taumaunu, meanwhile, will be looking to see how her new-look attack copes under the relentless pressure from the Australian defence. The likes of Bailey Mes, Grace Rasmussen and Shannon Francois have limited test experience against Australia — all of whom will play a key role in a potential tilt at the title later in the week.

It's unlikely Taumaunu will rotate her side to the extent she has during their two outings so far in Sydney, with all 12 getting a run against Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. But she indicated different lines will be tested.

"We're going to get people on, we're going to keep people as fresh as we can over the next couple of days and we'll see where we are at against Australia. Then we get a rest day so, in some ways, it is going to work out quite well for us.

"This is not a tournament-defining game for us, but it is going to be very interesting."

Taumaunu has made the point several times that a loss today wouldn't be a disaster. Regardless of the result, the Ferns will still advance through to the top eight next week.

But it is imperative they at least keep it close. Adding another hefty loss to their nine-game losing run against Australia will be a massive knock to confidence heading into the biggest week of the players' careers.

Australian captain Laura Geitz believes the early meeting with New Zealand will work in her side's favour as they look to build towards the later rounds of the tournament. She said they were in a similar scenario at last year's Commonwealth Games when they drew England early on.

"It's fantastic for us to come up against New Zealand. If we look back to Comm Games last year, we met England pretty early on which was probably a bit of a turning point for us. It was a really tight match, and I think it is a bit of a blessing to have a really big hit-out against a challenging opponent and really get things set in place heading into the later part of the week."

Alexander was giving little away in terms of how she plans to approach today's match from a personnel perspective, saying she will make a call on the day which line-up is suited for the occasion.

"We've got great confidence in our group that, whichever seven we put on, is going to take it on and take on the contest."

Today's session at Sydney's Allphones Arena is a sellout — just what the organisers were hoping for when they re-jigged the format to ensure the world's No 1 and No 2 sides would meet in pool play.