2022 Commonwealth Games – Day 7 (Aug 4)

I actually think Jamaica have a good shot at beating Australia. They seem to have improved over C/WA/GA and Moloney and Brazill have been quite underwhelming. I think the Diamonds need Hadley and Wood, and we most likely won’t have them (at least not for a full game).

I just don’t see how NZL are going to get enough ball defensively to beat England. If they had Burger and Watson it would be a completely different story. A lot of people have been murmuring that Johnson might be the X Factor, but when was the last time she dominated a game for 60 minutes at GD? ANZC 2015 for the Mystics?

I have a feeling the Ferns might get up over England but Jamaica will beat the Diamonds and we have to face Aussie in the semis 😂

As exciting as the Sterling/Bueta and Bruce/Fowler battles will no doubt be, I expect the result will largely come down to how well Jamaica can shut down Steph Wood (and if she is able to play a full game.) Curious to see whether Australia opt for Austin/Bueta or Bueta/Koenen should Steph need to come off.

Has there been any word on whether Hadley will sit out again today?

Mentor is a big game player, but if she can’t have an impact against Nweke then I think England’s medal chances won’t look great. They’ll also need to lift their shooting accuracy today IMO – which is definitely possible with the players they have.

Hopefully all four teams show up and we get two very good games!

Jury should (and probably will) get the start. But I wonder if she’s any match for Hartens smarts? I think having Sulu there for backup is crucial.
Housby v Karaka should be another good matchup.

I think Jamaica having both Wilson and Ward to take it in turns of shutting down the Aussie GA will be big for them.
You almost feel Bueta/Sterling/Fowler/Bruce may all cancel each other out.
This will be a battle of the midcourt and I think Australia have the edge there but the C position will be a challenge without Hadley.

I don’t think you’d want to put money on any of the outcomes lol – I think it’s impossible to call. if anything (maybe wishful thinking) NZ may have a slight edge (on paper) in the fact that they are quite unknown – none of the teams have played against Wilson at GA, Souness at C, an improved Jury, or Nweke (other than a couple of brief first up cameos) where as Eng/Aus/Jam for the most part play against each other week in week out – atleast the shooters/defence do.

As for semi’s I don’t think there’s a preferred team each would go up against – where as a few years ago it was definitely Jam/SA that was the weakest of the top 4 but seems to be a much more level playing field going into these next few games

if NZ don’t win Gold I actually really hope that Jamaica take it out (and then we can say that no we didn’t win gold but neither did Aus or England lol not taking anything away from Jam in saying that either) but I think it may come down to who can adjust to the umpiring the best