Amid a growing chorus England, rather than the usual suspects from across the Tasman, deserve to be rated as the greatest dangers to the Diamonds' successful Netball World Cup defence, there remains a significant dissenting voice: Lisa Alexander.
The Australian head coach was relieved to escape with a shaky 49-48 win over England during the pool stage of last year's Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and ecstatic with the 58-40 thrashing of New Zealand in the gold medal game. But Alexander expects to encounter a highly motivated opponent when the old rivals headline the remodelled event's opening weekend. 
''A lot of people are saying it's going to be England, but I still see New Zealand as our biggest threat, because they're at their most dangerous when they're hungry and they have a point to prove,'' Alexander said of the world No.2, who meet Australia on Sunday after the hosts open against Trinidad and Tobago on   August 7 and then play Barbados the next day.
''[The Silver Ferns] have obviously chosen a team that's fit and ready to take on a tournament, and is flexible and adaptable. You're not quite going to know what they're going to put out there, so that's always dangerous, too.''
New Zealand, the four-time champions, are bringing a relatively inexperienced team to Sydney, with Mystics goal shooter Cathrine Latu among the notable omissions.
Alexander said she believed Australia's good record against Latu had been a factor in her axing, along with a desire to introduce new blood.
England, too, are tipped to be well prepared, and keen to atone for shattering one-goal losses to both Glasgow finalists. Sasha and Kadeen Corbin were the major casualties, with new coach Tracey Neville opting to recall veterans Sonia Mkoloma, former captain Pamela Cookey and Tamsin Greenway.
''Definitely they're a big threat, England,'' Alexander said. ''They've picked an experienced team, and they've picked a team that's got lots of combinations already developed; and they've gone back to an athlete of the past, Sonia, because of her presence on court, the way that she can get into shooters' heads, with just the way she plays, her personality.
''The Corbin sisters, while you can say they shouldn't just have been the ones that got the blame, they probably threw a few balls away at critical times, and Tracey's had a close look at that and she's gone with a more experienced line-up. So I think they've tried to put together a team that's mentally tough at the right end of the game, and that's going to be very hard to overcome, because they will be more patient with the ball.''
As for Jamaica, Alexander is tipping Queensland Firebirds' spearhead Romelda Aiken will be preferred to her more prolific but less well-rounded teammate Jhaniele Fowler-Reid at goalshoot in a team spoilt for super-sized choice.
''Whenever they get their opportunity, both of them will be hungry to perform well,'' Alexander said. ''We certainly expect Romelda to hold down that shooter position, because of her ANZ [Championship] season; she played very well this year. She's added more mobility to her game.''
The fixtures At Allphones Arena
â Australia v Trinidad & Tobago, 9.05pm Friday
â Barbados v Australia, 3.20pm Saturday
â Australia v New Zealand, 2.20pm Sunday (  August 9)