Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer

AUSTRALIA'S INSTITUTE of Sports (AIS) whipped Jamaica's Under-21 netballers 52-39 in the final game of their three-match series at the National Indoor Sports Complex on Monday night.

The win sealed a 3-0 sweep by the Aussies.

Despite the defeat, however, Janet Guy, coach of the young Sunshine Girls, said her side had learnt strong lessons from the Aussies.

"I think the girls have learnt that they need to be fit. They have to be ready at all times and they also need to be a lot smarter," said Guy. "I believe they have realised that they also need to work on their concentration and believe in each other and work together as a unit."

Guy added that the World Championships are one year away and there is still enough time for the players to work on their weak areas and build on their strengths.

Good exposure

"I think it was good exposure for them because it is still early days and they haven't reached the stage where we would want to peak them in terms of their fitness level," Guy said.

Guy also said the team missed goal shooter Romelda Aiken, who is currently plying her trade for the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championships.

"Romelda (Aiken) was sorely missed but we thought other players would have stepped up based on basic netball play, but they didn't really do much out there," she said.

Simone McKinnis, coach of the Australia U-21s, was pleased with her team's efforts.

"I was pleased with the performance of my team tonight because we used a lot players and I thought we played some really good netball at different times," McKinnis said

"I am pretty pleased overall because we won the series 3-0 and that is what we came here to do and I am happy for that."