"I'm really feeling for the New Zealand team because they are our great rivals and when you play each other so many times, they are kind of like frienemies," she said.

"I know that all the coaching staff will be hurting."

New Zealand and Australia are the only two nations to have won a Commonwealth Games gold medal. 

Their loss to Malawi sent shockwaves through the netball world with mixed emotions across the board.

Alexander, who has been the head coach of Australia since 2011, has met New Zealand 28 times since mid-2013 so knows that they can't be dismissed after one loss.

"It's a long tournament, it's a marathon, not a sprint," she said.

"I never discount them because they are individually skilful players, it's tough and they've got some team issues so I think they will come back pretty hard," Alexander said.

New Zealand sits second behind England in Pool B and will face them tomorrow night to decide who will finish top of their group.