It was a much better start from England and there were patches in the game where we could have really pushed on and challenged them, but key opportunities were missed, so again it felt like we were always chasing the game against Australia.
For me, the Diamonds were coasting through most of the match and when they needed to, they turned on the style; England weren’t quite at the same pace for the full 60 minutes.
We’ve talked a lot about the Wing Attack position for England and with Sasha Corbin not on the tour we’ve had to look at other options. Jade Clarke gives us a solid WA but it’s not where her strengths lie and I much prefer her in a WD role and I was really impressed with her in Centre today.
Kadeen Corbin came on but she’s just not had the experience in that WA position and it’s completely different to playing Goal Attack – you have little space, your movement has got to be spot on and although I thought she fed the circle well, she was lost for periods of that game which meant the shooters Jo Harten and Rachel Dunn had a lot of work to do.
I’d like to see Sophia Candappa out there because we’ve got to see the other options we have going in to the World Cup in Sydney next year. What if this had been the World Cup and we didn’t have Sasha Corbin – what are we going to do?
It's apparent there is a hole in the midcourt and we need to look at who else can fit in. If we haven’t got those options, what role can we give Jade Clarke and Kadeen Corbin so that they can do a really effective job in there?
Solid Centre
We can't just look at the WA though. I’m quite a traditionalist and I like to have a solid Centre in place because it’s a difficult position to come in to – you’ve got to attack and defend and you often feel like you’re blowing because you’re running up and down the court. The C often grows into the game, so only getting short bursts can be difficult. I would like us to have a more cemented Centre and then build the Wing Defence and the Wing Attack in to whoever is playing that.
I’m still not sure we know who that is yet and I think all of them vying for that position – Sara Bayman, Serena Guthrie and Jade Clarke - all show why they could be, but once we decide who that is, stick to it and we can then build around it.
Dunn-it
I’m really pleased for my Surrey Storm team mate Rachel Dunn, she’s been outstanding at Goal Attack. You know what I love about her? That innocence she plays with. She’s not necessarily comfortable playing in that position in terms of knowing what she’s doing for all her roles, but she just plays for the ball. I don’t think defenders know how to mark her because when she goes in to the circle she posts-up – Clare McMeniman and Sharni Layton had nothing on her today in the back space, they couldn’t get the ball off her in the circle.
Yes, she probably doesn’t bring that pace outside the circle but she brings the height and actually, if all else fails you’ve always got that 'get out of jail free' card to lob the ball up. I’m really pleased for her going in to the final years of her international career on a real high and she’s showing the world why she’s been so strong for us at Storm.