Marinkovich puts World Cup preparation ahead of coaching future
The Diamonds have no competitive matches scheduled before their title defence in Sydney after losing the Constellation Cup series 3-1.
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich says preparing Australia for its Netball World Cup defence will take priority over concerns about her future, following a 3-1 Constellation Cup series loss to New Zealand.
Australia closed the four-match series with a 68-58 victory but will not play another competitive match before the World Cup in Sydney, which runs from 25 August to 5 September. The two countries are set to hold equal No.1 rankings when World Netball publishes its December standings.
Marinkovich, who has coached the Diamonds since 2020, is contracted until the end of 2027. She said worrying about job security would detract from her responsibility to the players, and she wanted to know she had given the group everything she could.
With players taking a break before Super Netball, Australia's preparations will include training camps. Marinkovich said she would work with high-performance staff on creative ways to use the January camp and provide suitable match practice.
She said playing only against one another would not be enough because the players already knew Australia's approach. Her focus was on developing new challenges for an established group while continuing to evolve her own coaching.
