Australian coach Norma Plummer is not one to pull punches, and her stern words inspired the Diamonds to a major short-term recovery that firmly established a physchological advantage over New Zealand.
Plummer gave her squad a stern lecture after they were thrashed in Wellington's second Test, and they responded by claiming a 46-40 victory in Auckland on Sunday that means New Zealand's four-year drought without a series win continues.
"We said it how it was. [We're] the Australian Diamonds. This is the team that's going to be representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games. They need to get out and play like it, not get one win and think 'yippee, that was great'," Plummer said of her frustrations.
Captain Sharelle McMahon's composure is something Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken is crying out for in her shooting circle. McMahon said the Australian squad's self-belief never faltered despite being dealt an embarrassing 19-goal defeat last Thursday.
"We got thumped a couple of days ago [but] we didn't get emotional, we didn't get too down on ourselves or panic. Even though the scoreline was a big blowout, it wasn't a disaster," she explained.
Natalie Medherst should have been a candidate for player of the match as she collected 27 of her side's total. Medherst has displaced veteran shooter Catherine Cox as McMahon's first-choice partner after two standout efforts under the hoop this series.
Her combination with the captain instigates Australia's short-sharp-fast attacking drive. Twenty-Tests into a blossoming career, Medhurst already looks and sounds like a young McMahon.
"We're pretty determined to get that gold medal," Medherst said. "We have such high expectations of not only ourselves, but each other, and that's where our belief comes from."
Of the 96 trans-Tasman matches that have ended with 1-5 winning margins, Australia now has 29 wins, New Zealand 17.
"We have the No.1 ranking still, that's going to come with us whether we like it or not," Plummer said of her side's undoubted favouritism for gold in Delhi.
Unlike the Ferns who travel to Singapore to acclimatise to India's heat, Australia leaves for Kuala Lumpur on September 21 buoyed, excited and brimming with confidence.