Walking around Sydney Olympic Park over the past two weeks there have been constant reminders of Australia's dominance of world netball.
Footage of Australia's World Cup heroics play on loop on a big screen outside the stadium, repeating the Silver Ferns heartbreak of 1991, 1999, 2007 and 2011 over andover again. The fanzone offers a "cheer cam" where kids armed with confetti can get videos of themselves joining in the on-court celebrations from previous tournaments. And at every break in quarter play at the tournament the big screen plays ads featuring Diamonds skipper Laura Geitz talking about what it is to be a great Australian.
The Silver Ferns were last night delivered another brutal reminder of Australia's dominance of the event, effectively storming away with the World Cup in the opening quarter.
Cue more scenes of Diamonds jubilation, emotional players leaping into the crowd to embrace family, and confetti raining down on the women in gold.
It was the third straight tournament the likes of Casey Kopua, Laura Langman and Maria Tutaia have had to watch such scenes unfold.
Australia celebrate victory during the 2015 Netball World Cup Gold Medal match. Photo / AP
The trio, who have been pillars of the Silver Ferns line-up for the past decade, now face the prospect of ending their careers without a world title. It is an especially tough result for Kopua to swallow after the incredible determination she showed to get herself back out on court following a serious knee injury last year.
It was almost 10 months to the day that Kopua was stretchered off the same court screaming in agony as she clutched her knee that did not look like much of a knee any more. At the time few thought she would be back in Sydney for this month's tournament.
After a disastrous 2014 season, not many people thought the Silver Ferns would be in last night's final either. But the new-look side, emboldened by a new gameplan that encouraged them to play a fearless, attacking brand of netball, proved their doubters wrong, storming through pool play and tipping the World Cup applecart with a stunning 52-47 win over Australia on day three.
Swept up in the confidence, enthusiasm and positivity from the Ferns' camp you got the sense that perhaps this year might be different. That maybe, just maybe, Kopua, Langman, Tutaia and veteran defender Leana de Bruin, playing in her 100th, and probably last, test for New Zealand would finish on a high.
But fairytale endings don't happen often in New Zealand netball.
