Ahead of the Vitality Roses Reunited series against Jamaica, Helen Housby speaks to Sky Sports about the unique test that the Sunshine Girls pose and looks ahead to next year's Commonwealth Games.
"A team like Jamaica are just so different to any other in the world's top five," Housby shared early on in our conversation. "The way that they play, and their natural style, it's just so different.
"Historically, England have met Jamaica at pretty much every major tournament, whether that's during the group stages or in the knockout matches. So for us, getting as many minutes against them in preparation isn't a bad thing.
"I do really enjoy playing against the Sunshine Girls; I didn't enjoy the [Commonwealth Games] semi-final on the Gold Coast though!
"They arguably should have won that game; they were ahead for the whole match and we scraped through by the skin of our teeth. That was a horrible, horrible game and I still don't like watching it back as it gives me heart palpitations."
During that contest, Housby's shooting partner Jo Harten was the one who delivered the 'buzzer beating' goal. In the Commonwealth final, the 26-year-old did the same against Australia and created a moment that proved to be a step change for English netball.
"It's gone quite slowly [since 2018] but then when I actually think about it, so much has happened following that moment," she said.
"It is really exciting and to be able to go into this Commonwealth Games on home soil with the chance to defend a gold medal. That's something that we - as an England side - have never done before and I know that the girls are up for it."
The position of being the defending champions creates a whole new dynamic for an outfit, and finding the right strategy when it comes to dealing with that is something England's Vitality Roses must do.
Housby is familiar with being a title-holder, most recently her work with NSW Swifts in Suncorp Super Netball has assisted that and the question, is whether you need to lean into the pressure or try and forget about it?
"I think that it's a little bit of both; it's definitely a fresh competition and you've got to treat every game as a different game," Housby, who is a Red Bull athlete, noted. "You're only as good as the next game that you play.
"However, conversely, I think that it would almost be unwise to ignore that we are the reigning champions and we're going into a home competition with that title.
"The way that other teams look at us might be a bit different and you've got to take that into account or at least have a little think about it.
"Now, it might not change much about the way that you prepare or the way that you train, but having that in the back of your mind isn't really a bad thing.
"It's a fact at the end of the day, and we [as England] want to be a team that's under that sort of pressure going into competitions. We want to be the reigning champions."
Right now though, Housby's focus and that of her team-mates remains firmly fixed on what's in front of them - the Jamaican Sunshine Girls.
"You know that you have to be at your absolute best against Jamaica. They can score so quickly so there's no room to breathe.
"On court, you know that every centre pass has a lot of pressure on it to make sure that you score. I love having that amount of pressure on you.
"When it comes to a Commonwealth Games or a World Cup, it's often your error-rates that let you down in the big games.
"Against a team like Jamaica, when emotions are going to be really high and it's going to be really physical, the team that keeps their head is often the team that comes out with the win.
"They'll have a 6f t4in goal shooter in the circle; they've got a couple of those, so you're not really sure who it is going to be, but one of them will certainly be there.
"They're super-fast, super-strong, speedy and are athletes; Jamaica's players buzz around the court and it often turns into a running race for a lot of the game.
"Also, the Sunshine Girls are quite an emotional team too and they'll use the emotion of the crowd to get going. Once they get going, they can be really hard to stop too," she added.
"For us, it will be about breaking their connections and trying to stop the ball getting onto the circle edge because once it gets there, and you've got a keeper against a huge shooter, it becomes pretty difficult for a defender to win the ball.
"We need to look at winning the ball earlier and being really clinical when we've got it in attack.
"Needless to say, Jamaica will be match-ready and that's a daunting prospect for any team in the world. However, we're really excited and it's shaping up to be a really strong series between two great teams."
Helen Housby is a Red Bull Athlete. For more information visit RedBull.com