Netball Australia has announced the recently crowned World Cup winners take on the Proteas in a three-Test series following the Constellation Cup.
The first match will be held in Cairns at the Cairns Convention Centre on Wednesday, October 25 before a double-header in Hobart at MyState Bank Arena on October 29 and 31.
It will be the first time Cairns has hosted a netball Test after a proposed Constellation Cup match against New Zealand in 2021 was shifted to Christchurch due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adding to the occasion, the Diamonds squad could include north Queensland product Cara Koenen with the Townsville-product having played a key role in Australia’s World CUp triumph in South Africa.
Fellow Queensland pathways product Ruby Bakewell-Doran is also pushing to be part of the series after being a reserve for the Diamonds for the 2023 World Cup alongside Firebirds teammate Donnell Wallam.
October’s series against the Proteas will follow this year’s Constellation Cup between the Diamonds and Silver Ferns starting on Thursday, October 12 at John Cain Arena in Melbourne.
Brisbane will host the second Test between the two rivals on Sunday, October 15 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre before the series moves across the Tasman for matches in Invercargill and Auckland respectively on October 19 and 23.
Netball Australia announced on Thursday the Australian Men’s team, revealed as the Kelpies, will play a three-match Trans-Tasman Cup alongside the Constellation Cup with the fixtures in Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland to be double-headers.
Tickets for the Constellation Cup and South Africa series will go on pre-sale to Suncorp Super Netball club members and Netball Nation subscribers on Monday, August 14 from 11am AEST.
Following this, registered netball participants from state Member Organisations will be able to access tickets from 5pm AEST.
General Public tickets go on sale on Tuesday, August 15 at 11am through Ticketek.
All the international action, including the three men’s Tests, will be broadcast live and exclusively in Australia on Fox Sports, available through Foxtel and Kayo Freebies.
Constellation Cup times and locations:
Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Thursday 12 October at John Cain Arena (Melbourne), 6:30pm AEST
Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Sunday 15 October at Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Brisbane), 6:30pm AEST
Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Thursday 19 October at ILT Stadium Southland (Invercargill), 4:30pm AEST
Diamonds v Silver Ferns, Monday 23 October at Spark Arena (Auckland), 1:00pm AEST
Trans-Tasman Cup times and locations:
Kelpies v New Zealand, Thursday 12 October at John Cain Arena (Melbourne), 4:30pm AEST
Kelpies v New Zealand, Sunday 15 October at Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Brisbane), 4:30pm AEST
Kelpies v New Zealand, Monday 23 October at Spark Arena (Auckland), 11:00am AEST
South Africa series times and locations:
Diamonds v SPAR Proteas, Wednesday, 25 October at Cairns Convention Centre (Cairns), 6:30pm AEST
Diamonds v SPAR Proteas, Sunday, 29 October at MyState Bank Arena (Hobart), 3:00pm AEST
Diamonds v SPAR Proteas, Tuesday, 31 October at My State Bank Arena (Hobart), 6.30pm AEST
