I came on here to say what has already been said about having Koenen at GA and Moloney on at C together. Just no.
I know Bruce is a great player and she had some good moments today, but I honestly feel that Klau is better suited to the matchup on Nweke in some ways. It reminds me a bit of when Australia had Geitz and Layton and there were times where I think Layton really would’ve been a better option on court, even if not for the whole game, but she just sat on the bench or played out of position.
I don’t think Toeva would’ve made a massive difference to the scoreline. She can be brilliant, but she can be expensive and if she isn’t fit enough to meet the NZ benchmarks at WA, the Diamonds would’ve exposed it.
I would also like to see Garbin have a bit more range. She was often pretty close already and the extra pass when under a lot of pressure is just a chance to lose the ball.
I think Australia have a great GA in Austin, she has already performed for them in big moments, unfortunately her shooting hasn’t been quite where it needs to be in the back half of this series. I think we’re so used to Wood. If she ever had a bad shooting game, there would never be two in a row and even if she had poorer shooting patches in games she kept going to post in pressure moments.
As a Diamonds supporter I was slightly dismayed that NZ has finally recognised Burger as their best GD – particularly against Austin and that Heffernan is needed at WD 😉