Ahhh @Jinxibo that old chestnut “Diamonds physicality”. When Cath Cox mentioned it in commentary I rolled my eyes and thought the commentators must be contractually obliged to get it in somewhere.
You have looked at the game stats haven’t you? The Roses were far more penalised (and yes for contact not just obstruction) in all games – including Game 2. No mention from anyone about Roses physicality. And with the umpires being Kiwis, they are traditionally very tough on Australian style of play, not so much this series, why would that be?
The Diamonds simply tightened up their defence all round in Game 3, having Hadley and Price out the front made a hell of a difference. Both players much tighter/closer marking on their opponent that Moloney and Parmenter, shutting down the preferred spaces.
I’ve never understood the hoo-ha about Quashie, however that may be because I’ve never seen any NSL games. Having seen Quashie, was it earlier this year or last year, she was always half to a full step off the pace and pretty much always had her eyes down. Not an international standard GK.
Was happy to get a look at Tchine – she’s going to be a star and a handful for international GKs. Sterling v Tchine, bring it on!! Tchine will get eaten up to start with but will be interesting match-up in the future.
I too am disappointed Ervin wasn’t given a run. Something must be happening in Diamonds training for Ellis to be above Ervin coz she certainly wasn’t based on SSN form. Yes, Ellis had her true breakout season but Ervin just seems to be the more advanced, well rounded player at SSN level.
Was very happy to see both Aryang and Klau bounce back after disappointing SSN seasons by their standards (Klau more so). Aryang having to form new partnerships with Williams and Dehaney and having to slide to WD for many quarters, and Klau and the Swifts bin fire. Aryang in particular looked confident and unfazed being the starting GD.
