At Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane: Australia 55 (Cara Koenen: 33/33, Kiera Austin: 21/26, Sophie Dwyer: 1/1) Silver Ferns 46 (Amelia Walmsley: 17/19, Ameliaranne Ekenasio: 6/9, Grace Nweke: 21/24, Tiana Metuarau: 2/2) 1Q: 16-11, HT: 28-23, 3Q: 41-32.

It’s hard enough to beat the world champion Australian netballers at the best of times.

Let alone, when you make silly unforced errors – including several offensive contact penalties.

The Silver Ferns return to New Zealand trailing 2-0 in the four-match Constellation Cup series after being outclassed 55-46 in Sunday’s second test in Brisbane.

Dame Noeline Taurua’s side showed improvement from their sloppy 50-40 loss in Thursday’s opener, but were still no match for the classy Diamonds.

Australia all but locked away the Constellation Cup for another year, holding a 2-0 series advantage (and 19 goal differential).

The Ferns don’t have long to regroup ahead of the next match in Invercargill on Thursday – where they will look to end a six-game losing streak to Australia. Then it’s on to Auckland’s Spark Arena for the final match next Monday.

To beat this outstanding Australian side, you need to string close to four quarters of consistent netball together.

New Zealand produced two pleasing quarters in Brisbane, which coincided with the return from injury of star shooter Grace Nweke – who suffered a tournament ending knee injury at the World Cup.

There were some frustrating mistakes, including several offensive contact penalties in the shooting end, which hurt the Ferns in test two. Some were debatable calls, which were going both ways, but the Ferns must be smarter in those moments.

“Our discipline we can’t afford to lose three balls in a row, against Aussie or any opponent. These are the things we’ve got to keep stretching ourselves out and mentally stay in tune,” Taurua said…

“These are the things we’ve got to be tidy on. We’ve got to keep our arms down. We’ve got to take the barrage when it’s on the other side and we’ve got to play the game.”

Nweke’s return to court was an encouraging sign and the 1.93m shooter again caused problems for the Diamonds’ defenders.

Playing her first game in 78 days since suffering a partial tear in her patella tendon at the World Cup, Nweke was on restricted minutes. She got through 30 minutes, playing the second and fourth quarters – which was when the Ferns looked the most threatening, matching it with Australia.

Nweke finished with 21 goals from 24 attempts, also pulling in three rebounds, in a heartening display.

The Ferns will naturally be careful with Nweke in this series as she ramps back up in elite netball. Given what she showed in Brisbane, Taurua must be tempted to start her in Invercargill – a game the Ferns must win to have any slim hope of denying Australia the trophy.

“I thought she did outstanding knowing she hasn’t been on court for a few months. It probably showed in the quarters when we were actually up in the second and fourth, which is great,” Taurua said.

“Her injury she sustained in Netball World Cup she’s actually ahead of her time, so her to be out there and do two quarters is massive.”

The Ferns were again well beaten by a clinical Australian side, who capitalise from almost any turnover.

Despite the nine-goal margin, Taurua described their performance as a step forward from the first test in Melbourne.

Their new-look midcourt of wing attack Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, centre Maddy Gordon, and wing defence Kate Heffernan, again had their moments. Reuelu-Buchanan and Gordon are developing a promising attacking combination and would only benefit from testing themselves against netball’s benchmark, Australia.

“I thought we did really well in our midcourt. We got onto the circle edge and when we did that we were quite successful. I thought there was a power of work that was done in our middies and defence end.”

Professional sport is a results-based industry and the Ferns, who underwhelmed at the Netball World Cup, finishing fourth, desperately need a win over Australia on home soil.

This was their sixth straight loss to the Diamonds dating back to last October. Since opening last year’s Constellation Cup with back-to-back wins over Australia, the Ferns haven’t tasted victory since against their trans-Tasman rivals.

“We’ve got to win [in Invercargill]. It hasn’t changed, no matter what, and that’s the most exciting thing about the trans-Tasman battle between us and Australia, it’s always there to win.

“Incremental improvements would be good. We’re in the game, but then we’re not in the game, so our consistency around that [is important].”