While the Silver Ferns are world champions after their last-gasp win in the World Cup final in July, they have not acquired enough rankings points this year to overtake the Diamonds, who sit well out in front of both New Zealand and England in the No.1 spot.

The Silver Ferns celebrate their win in Sydney. AAP

Having said that, rankings mean very little. Yes, it's nice to be world No.1, but there's not much celebrating that goes on when the rankings come out each year. For the players it is the games you win that count, and the big games count the most.

So to that end, regardless of what happens on Sunday, the Silver Ferns will finish the year pretty satisfied with their lot. Sure, they would love the Constellation Cup, but at the end of the day the big prize this year was the World Cup and they have that safely tucked away for the next four years.

If they win the Constellation Cup, and strip Australia's cupboard bare, they could claim that the rankings don't matter, the trophies do, and they have them all. In that case, it would be hard to argue against any claim that right now, the Silver Ferns are the best netball team in the world – official rankings be damned.

For the Diamonds, the Constellation Cup is really the Consolation Cup. It hurt like hell to lose the World Cup final by a single goal, and a win on Sunday would be far more significant than the fact that the world rankings have them as No.1. If they can pull off the win it would allow them to finish the year on a winning note, have an extended break and come back in 2020 with some silverware and some confidence that they can still match it with the Ferns.

That's a pretty big "if". With just one win against the old foe in the last four games, it's going to require an almighty effort to get the win in Perth. The Silver Ferns have proven themselves incredibly adept at holding their nerve in the close matches. Crucially, they have been able to do it in this series both at home in New Zealand and away, in front of a massive crowd in Sydney last Sunday. This is more than just remaining calm in the face of extraordinary pressure. It is about everybody knowing their roles, and being able to execute them when it counts. It is also about trusting your teammate to do the same. That way you don't waste time or energy in the game covering for someone you aren't sure of.

Australia's Caitlin Bassett will play game 100 in Perth on Sunday. PA

With minimal personnel changes through the games, the Silver Ferns are familiar with each other, and they know how the person next to them reacts in a pressure situation. They know who fatigues – and when – and how they play when they do. This sort of knowledge and understanding is invaluable, and it is why the Ferns remain calm. Even when they are seven or eight goals down, you can see on their faces that they aren't concerned, and that they still believe they can win. That sort of confidence is hard won, invaluable, and incredibly difficult to combat.

Yet the Diamonds have shown that they can. They did it incredibly well in Auckland last week, where they pulled off a massive (in the context of recent close matches) six-goal win to be able celebrate coach Lisa Alexander's record-breaking 100th match as coach in style. With captain Caitlin Bassett set to become just the fifth Australian netball centurion on Sunday in Perth, a win to finish the year on a positive would be a fitting celebration for a player whose Diamonds career has seen her shoot Australia to victory in many a pressure situation.