Diamonds legends Michelle Den Dekker and Sharelle McMahon will make a return to the green and gold, being appointed the Origin Australian Diamonds specialist coaches for the upcoming Constellation Cup test series.
The Origin Diamonds are set to take on the New Zealand Silver Ferns in the four-match series in New Zealand from March 2-7, the first tour under new Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich.
Former Diamonds captain, Den Dekker will bring a wealth of experience to the new-look coaching line-up having represented Australia on 84 occasions as a player. She’s the only Diamonds captain to have led the team to two World Cup titles and a Commonwealth Games gold medal, with an incredible 92% win rate during her 71 tests as captain.
Upon retiring, Den Dekker turned her attention to coaching and has served as assistant coach within the Diamonds program (winning World Cup and Commonwealth gold), led the Australia Netball Centre of Excellence and coached several national and state teams.
McMahon’s credentials further bolster the Diamonds sideline. As one of Australia’s most decorated netball players, she represented Australia 118 times, including at three Netball World Cups and four Commonwealth Games, and captained the team on 12 occasions.
Since ending her playing career in 2013, McMahon has stayed closely connected with Australian netball and is currently on the coaching panel with the 2020 championship-winning Melbourne Vixens.
Origin Diamonds Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich is delighted to have the experienced duo on board.
“Both Michelle and Sharelle are absolute professionals in their fields with incredibly impressive playing and coaching careers and we’re honoured to have them a part of the program,” she said.
“As specialist coaches, Michelle and I will work closely together and construct our defensive brand whilst Sharelle will have her focus directed on our shooting circle. I’m really looking forward to, not only seeing how we evolve as a coaching unit, but how we can challenge, develop and evolve our players to produce a really cohesive style of play.
“We have a series of goals we want to achieve on and off the court and to start our campaign with such an incredible high-performance team is extremely exciting for both myself and the girls.”
In other new Origin Diamonds staffing appointments, current West Coast Fever Performance analyst Gary Dawson will join the Constellation Cup tour as Performance Analyst, Jeremy Hickmans, currently working with Swimming Australia, will join as Strength and Conditioning Lead and Dr Andrew Aldous, who has most recently worked with the Collingwood Magpies netball team, will join as tour doctor.
Currently all new staff are contracted for this Constellation Cup tour, with a view to assess overall program design and staffing appointments for the coming years.
The Constellation Cup test matches will be played at Christchurch Arena on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd March and then at Trustpower Baypark in Tauranga on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th March.
Netball Australia is working closely with the Australian Government on the process and travel arrangements.
The Origin Diamonds plan to travel to Christchurch on Monday 15 February and prepare for the series during 14 days of quarantine at a managed international quarantine facility there.
All Constellation Cup matches will be broadcast live on either Nine or 9Gem and the Netball Live Official App, with broadcast details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The 2020 Constellation Cup was postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on international travel. Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand are hoping to complete two Constellation Cup tournaments in 2021, one in March and one in October.
