Glasgow: The Diamonds will miss the gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games for the first time after being upset by Jamaica in a thrilling semi-final clash, 45-46 in front of a full house that featured the Prince and Princess of Wales at the Hydro.
Australia had the chance to tie the game after full-time and force extra time, but Sophie Dwyer, who was shooting from long range, watched her shot bounce off the rim.
Cue pandemonium for Jamaica who stormed the court in ecstasy – celebrating as if they’d already won the gold medal. In some ways, they had.
The Diamonds entered the competition as the clear favourites, cruising through their opening rounds and easily defeating England, Tonga, Northern Ireland and Malawi. But they were unprepared for a fiery Jamaican side in the semi-final.
Kate Moloney admitted after the loss that it “hadn’t quite sunk in yet”.
“Really disappointing but credit to Jamaica, they really came out and really gave it to us,” she said. “We probably just didn’t execute the way we needed to.”
Moloney dismissed suggestions the anti-Australia crowd had any effect on the playing group, saying “we don’t really notice too much of that.”
“We know that at our best we beat anyone, and today we probably just weren’t at our best,” she said. “We’ll have a look at it and take lots of learnings and come out stronger tomorrow.”
When Dwyer missed her shot after the buzzer, Moloney went to comfort and embrace her teammate.
“We will wrap our arms around her. It’s a full team loss, it’s not on one person. We should not have been in the position where we needed to shoot a goal after the siren,” Moloney said.
Australia have not lost a Commonwealth Games semi-final since netball made its full program debut in 1998, but they will have to settle for a chance at bronze against England on Sunday instead of trying for back-to-back gold medals. It will be the Jamaicans taking on New Zealand in the decider.
The Diamonds had no answer for Jamaica’s aerial superiority in the first half, as the Sunshine girls overpowered them by sheer force and speed – aided by a truly stupendous performance from Shamera Sterling Humphrey, who used all 190cm of her height to intercept and create crucial turnovers.
Sterling-Humphrey recently won the 2026 Super Netball grand final with the Adelaide Thunderbirds back in Australia. Her presence in the Jamaican squad was deadly for the Australians, who struggled to stop her.
In the final five minutes of the last quarter, the umpire’s whistle could barely be heard as the crowd turned up the volume in favour of the Jamaican side.
Jamaica’s bench was no less involved, cheering, encouraging, advising and waving the flag throughout the entire match. It reached fever pitch as Dwyer’s shot missed and they stormed the court, jumping on top of each other.
Australia’s bench looked stunned, with coach Stacey Marinkovich staring stony-faced while other players leaned forward with their hands covering their mouths.
Sterling-Humphrey said if anyone was going to beat the Diamonds, it was going to be the Jamaicans.
“We have the inside information on them [the Diamonds] and thanks to the Suncorp Super Netball season for giving us the upper hand, playing them week in, week out,” she laughed.
It’s been an extraordinary year for Sterling-Humphrey, who has been candid and vulnerable about her postpartum journey.
“My bubs is somewhere in the stands cheering his mommy on,” she said.“I’m so proud of the year I’ve had, battling postpartum depression.”
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.
