Hello! This is day 8 of the player diary.

Many players said that this was the first morning that their alarms had actually woken them up. Maybe we are finally getting used to the Timezone!

We headed down to the buffet for some breakky before heading out for a light, shoot-around training session. We arrived to a stadium in pitch blackness (and no aircon) but soon enough we got into some shooting drills and 4 on 4. The energy was high after some solid goals.

We had a team warm-down/stretch and travelled back to the hotel for a couple of hours. We got some lunch into our nervous bellies and a few had a nap so that they could make sure to “wake up feeling dangerous.”

The game was a tough one! Australia put on an amazing showing and won the second half! Unfortunately, a 2 minute shooting spree from China in the last 2 minutes of the 1st quarter had set us back too much. It was a disappointing and frustrating loss, particularly for those who had played China before, and the mood was a little low on the bus.

That was before our Captain Jess decided to switch that around with a killer Aussie-themed playlist, and some John Farnham and Men at Work did the trick to raise spirits again.

Overall, the Aussies are proud of the effort and it was an enjoyable game against a well-matched team.

Dinner was at the hotel buffet and we finished with a team meeting and a game of Empire.

I’ll pass to Chris who will take you through the last day of competition, the bronze medal match against New Zealand! We appreciate all the love and support from home ❤️