The Constellation Cup is coming home.
The Silver Ferns produced a mammoth final quarter to beat the Australian Diamonds 52-49 in Sydney on Sunday to lift the Constellation Cup for just the fourth time in 16 years.
“We’re just so happy,’’ captain Karin Burger said post game.
The Diamonds will be crushed having held the lead and momentum for the opening three quarters, but a 7-0 run to open the fourth in favour of the Silver Ferns was their undoing.
It was a tough and grinding win for the Silver Ferns compared to the opening two — where they won 56-50 and and 62-50 in New Zealand — and they remain unbeaten in 2026.
Heading into the third test, the Silver Ferns had only won one of their past nine games in Australia, but they extended their winning streak against the Diamonds to five in a row for the first time since 1982.
Down 41-39 heading into the final quarter, the Silver Ferns snuck a three-goal lead — their first since the opening quarter — inside five minutes and all the momentum swung their way.
The Diamonds, who were class through the opening three quarters, clawed back to level 47-47 with less than five minutes to go.
But the Silver Ferns fought back for a hard-fought victory in the dying minutes.
It was not pretty, but that is an all important win heading into the Netball World Cup next year showing the Silver Ferns can come back from anywhere.
Earlier, the Diamonds came out hungry and went on a five-goal run off the back of some better defensive pressure out the front.
It held the Silver Ferns up on their transition through court, forced to re-set with goal keep Kelly Jackson more often than not.
The Diamonds went on a five-goal run to hold a 7-5 lead, as shooter Sophie Garbin created better space for herself on the baseline.
Despite giving away 7cm to Nweke, Diamonds defender Jessie Grenvold — playing just her third test — used her outside arm and got up to steal the ball.
The Silver Ferns let silly errors creep into their game, allowing the Diamonds to lead 15-11 at the break.
Maddy Gordon, playing her 50th test, was slick with her pass-and-cut to hit the circle edge, burning the Diamonds defenders to close the deficit to two.
The Diamonds had much better ball speed and were slick on attacking, while at the other end their defensive effort lifted massively to rattle Grace Nweke under the post.
Amy Parmenter ran through the ball, catching the Silver Ferns attackers static and Sophie Dwyer used the ball to split the defence to find Sophie Garbin beautifully.
The Silver Ferns struggled to break the two-goal buffer, until Karin Burger and Jackson finally plucked in a ball with one minute left and Te Paea Selby-Rickit nailed a buzzer-beater to lock the game 26-26 halftime.
Kimiora Poi was injected at wing attack and put a cracking feed into Nweke from the sideline as the game became an arm wrestle.
The Diamonds broke the deadlock from a Grenvold tip and swiftly went up by three.
They played with freedom they lacked in the opening two games and forced the Silver Ferns to feed off the circle edge and created indecision.
After being down by five, the Silver Ferns clawed their way back late in the quarter to trail 41-39.
They head to Melbourne for the fourth and final test on Wednesday.
Constellation Cup
The scores
Silver Ferns 52
Grace Nweke 41/45, Georgia Heffernan 6/7, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 5/8
Australia 49
Sophie Garbin 37/43, Sophie Dwyer 9/11, Kiera Austin 3/3
Quarter scores: Australia 15-11, 26-26, 41-39.