I imagine that most of the current Diamonds team would be looking to make it to the next world cup, particularly with it being at home. 32-33 really isn’t too old for pro athletes to still be performing at their peak with the kind of support they get now. Maybe Jo Weston will struggle just considering how persistent her injury issues seem to be?
It will be interesting to see what happens if any of the core Diamonds players start declining while younger plays prove themselves ready. I don’t think this team has had to navigate dropping a major player since Caitlin Bassett. They’ve had the luxury of being such a stable, close-knit & successful group that it could be a big challenge.
Tamsin mentioned in the above video that the Roses have used 32 players in 20 tests since the Comm Games (not including world cup matches). I had a look at the Diamonds in the same period and by my calculation, they’ve used 21 players in 22 tests. Slightly higher than I thought just because it feels like they’ve been so consistent with using players from that squad of 15 that went to the world cup. But it’s mostly come from rotating through so many GD options (Weston, Aryang, Turner, RBD, Hinchliffe, Garrett). GD is a bit of a strange one for the Diamonds because they have so many options, but they’ve continued backing Aryang to keep her spot. And I think there’s a lot of merit to that decision, but it’s also proven risky with Weston’s injury issues. Going back to the discussion earlier about unlucky Australian players, I’d say Turner has probably been the most unlucky.
