Silver Ferns end trying year on positive note with back-to-back wins ...

The Silver Ferns were in a funny place on Monday night at Spark Arena in Auckland, after beating the Australian Diamonds in the fourth and final Constellation Cup test.

Their 53-50 win was their second in a row over the current world champions, who are also their greatest rival in world netball – just the third time they had managed back-to-back wins over them in coach Dame Noeline Taurua’s tenure.

But it wasn’t enough for them to take home the Constellation Cup, the prize that is up for grabs when the trans-Tasman foes meet every year.

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The Silver Ferns soak in the adoration of the crowd at Spark Arena in Auckland after winning the final Constellation Cup test.

The four-match series finished tied 2-2, with Australia prevailing as they scored a total of 208 goals to New Zealand’s 195 across the four matches.

Winning twice on home soil – first of all in Invercargill on Thursday – meant the Silver Ferns’ finished 2023 on a positive note, but it didn’t make up for the disappointment of July’s Netball World Cup, where they finished outside the medals for the first time in their history.

“It's a mixed bag, I suppose," Taurua said afterwards, when asked to assess her team’s work this year. “Coming out of the Netball World Cup, knowing that we were fourth, through the traditions of the Silver Ferns, that's never a good feeling.

“Through that time, we still maintained our second ranking and I'll be interested to see how close we are now to Australia.

“That's massive for us to finish with these last two games on a high. It just sets us up nicely for next year.”

The Ferns did not have the services of imposing goal shoot Grace Nweke for most of the World Cup, after she suffered a knee injury she only returned from over the past fortnight.

After missing the Constellation Cup opener in Melbourne, which the Diamonds won 50-40, Nweke was able to play half an hour as Australia went 2-0 up with a 55-46 win in Brisbane.

She then upped her workload to 44 minutes as the Ferns bounced back to win 56-53 in Invercargill during the week – resting midway through the third quarter so she could be on court for the finish.

Monday brought Nweke’s first 60-minute outing since being sidelined in South Africa and she finished with 43 goals from 45 attempts – including the one that put the Ferns clear by two inside the final 60 seconds.

Taurua said it was “very cool” to have the 21-year-old back on court, making her 27th international appearance.

“[We were] happy to have that force in the back.

“It makes so much of a difference to our attacking end, it settles ourselves down, but also she does the business there.

“[I’m] wrapped, absolutely, that she was able to put four quarters out [on court].”

The Ferns had to dig deep for Monday’s win, as they trailed the Diamonds at the end of every quarter – by three after the first, two at halftime, then by three again at the end of the third.

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Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua celebrates her side’s win over the Australian Diamonds at Spark Arena in Auckland.

It was their 10th win in 23 trans-Tasman matches under Taurua, giving her a 44% win percentage in the rivalry, up from her predecessor Janine Southby’s 14% and the 33% managed by Wai Taumaunu before her.

The Ferns have only lost the Constellation Cup outright once in her time in charge, in 2018, with three 2-2 draws in 2019, 2022 and now 2023 sandwiching a 3-1 win in 2021, when the series was played entirely in Christchurch during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But it remains to be seen whether Taurua will be in the hot seat the next time the Constellation Cup rolls around, at the end of next year, as she is off the contract after the Ferns play a Quad Series early in 2024.

Taurua confirmed she would not be looking to finalise her plans – and Netball New Zealand’s – beyond that until after that series has passed.

Nor is she looking for a respite now the 2023 Constellation Cup is done and dusted, with the Fast5 Netball World Series coming up in Christchurch in three weeks and a Ferns camp on the cards for December.

“There's a lot of positive stuff that we can glean out of these games [against Australia],o we'll be looking at that and seeing, once again, what we can do in this next couple of weeks to get ourselves ready.

“Then after the January Series, we can have a rest.”