If that is what confidence can do for a team, the rest of the world should be worried.

The Silver Ferns were unstoppable, beating the Australian Diamonds 56-50 in the opening Constellation Cup test in Auckland on Sunday.

Backing up after their Commonwealth Games gold medal, the Silver Ferns, who led by as much as 15 at one point, were beautiful on attack and menacing on defence, after goal keep Kelly Jackson shut down everything.

She finished with eight gains to extend the Diamonds’ losing streak to 11 games on New Zealand soil, and give the Silver Ferns an upper hand ahead of Wednesday’s test.

The Diamonds, wounded after winning bronze in Glasgow, were poor by their standards.

They shot at 82% — compared to the Silver Ferns 90.3% —  struggled to convert from their own ball and only had six gains.

That can also be put down to the Silver Ferns’ pressure — but they will, however, be disappointed they let the Diamonds back into the game, losing the final quarter 17-11.

“Watch out for the next three games,’’ Silver Ferns captain Karin Burger told Sky Sport after the game.

The Silver Ferns were patient working the ball around the circle edge, Georgia Heffernan hung wide and drove along the base to finish.

Georgia Heffernan and Grace Nweke’s growing connection was clear from the first whistle, with the goal attack never afraid to let the ball to into the shooter.

Burger and Jackson’s unit defence hurt the Diamonds, as the Silver Ferns gained a 10-5 lead.

There was an air of confidence for the Silver Ferns early. They were prepared to hold on to the ball and work it around through court, and went on a five-goal unanswered run as their attack end fired.

The Diamonds lacked the slick flair fans have come to expect on attack and coughed up one too many errors to help the Silver Ferns amass a 15-10 lead at the break.

The Ferns wasted no time putting their foot down for an eight-goal lead to start the second quarter. 

Kate Heffernan and Maddy Gordon’s circle edge defence was crucial, cutting down the space at the top and forcing Liz Watson and Georgie Horjus wide.

Jessie Greenvold was injected on debut at goal keep, shifting Courtney Bruce — playing her 100th test — to goal defence to try to shut down Georgia Heffernan’s dominance, while Sophie Dwyer came on at goal attack.

But that did little to rattle the Silver Ferns, who stuck to their game plan and continued to attack the circle edge and fire the ball in to Nweke.

Jackson got in the head of the Diamonds’ shooters, rejecting a shot, and then picked the pocket, and the Silver Ferns suddenly led by 32-22 at halftime.

Both sides made plenty of changes in the third quarter, which included Te Paea Selby-Rickit, back for her first test since 2023, coming on for the Ferns.

It took both teams a while to adjust to their new combinations, but Jackson continued to be a nuisance for the Diamonds and pick up ball.

The Silver Ferns went on a seven-goal unanswered run — keeping the Diamonds scoreless for nearly seven minutes — and led 45-33 at the break.

The Diamonds had a much better final quarter as the Silver Ferns tried different combinations, and closed the gap to six.

Earlier in the evening, Netball New Zealand announced former Silver Ferns Leigh Gibbs, Yvonne Willering and Wai Taumaunu and former presidents Irene McInnes and Myrtle Muir had been inducted into the Netball New Zealand hall of fame.

 

Constellation Cup

The scores

Silver Ferns 56

Grace Nweke 40/41, Georgia Heffernan 6/8, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 7/9, Amelia Walmsley 3/4 

Australian Diamonds 50

Cara Koenan 17/22, Kiera Austin 10/14, Sophie Dwyer 3/4, Sophie Garbin 20/21

Quarter scores: Silver Ferns 15-10, 32-22, 45-33.