Members of the Austrailan team (from left), Johannah Curran, Renae Hallinan, Natalie VonBertouch, Susan Fuhrmann and Natalie Medhurst, on their arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Norma Plummer, coach of Australia's netball team, expects a pulsating series between her national outfit and Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, who meet in the opening game of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Sunshine Series on Saturday.
"The flair and style of the Jamaicans is very different for us and so I think that is going to be a spectacle to watch," said Plummer in an interview with The Gleaner, following her team's arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday.
"It is going to be a really tough ask from us because we are playing them on Saturday and Sunday," Plummer said.
Confident
The Australians defeated the Jamaicans 2-0 in the last series in 2005 and Plummer believes they can repeat that feat.
"We are always confident because we only come out here to win," she said. "Test matches are our main focus because we are now number one in the world and we want to remain this way."
However, Plummer added that her players will have to be on their toes to match up with the aerial threat of the Jamaicans.
"I know that Romelda Aiken and Simone (Forbes) will be a handful for us and so we will have to be at our best," Plummer said.
The Sunshine Girls won the silver medal at the just-concluded World Fast Net Series, this after they were beaten by the Aussies in the preliminary round of the competition.
Different story
The Australian team went on to claim bronze.
"I think that if we had played them later on in that series, it could have been a different story because they really improved over the course of that tournament," Plummer said.
She said she would also be using the series to assess the strengths and weaknesses of her team.
"We are going to meet each other in the Commonwealth Games and the World Champion-ships, so I am really looking forward to test my girls out against the Jamaicans now. Our focus is test matches because this gives us points on our world rankings," she added.