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Australia coach Lisa Alexander says the future of her youthful team remains bright despite a one-goal defeat to New Zealand in the Netball World Cup final.

Coach Lisa Alexander believes Australia's future remains bright despite Sunday's gut-wrenching defeat to New Zealand in the Netball World Cup final.

The Diamonds surrendered their iron grip on the trophy for the first time since 2003 after going down 52-51 in an absorbing decider at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena.

Despite the huge disappointment of defeat, Alexander believes her squad - the youngest of the four teams that reached the semi-finals - will have learned a huge deal from the experience.

"The players are shattered," Alexander said.

"They are young women who wanted to show the netball world, especially in Australia, that they are the real deal. So they are hurting right now."

The defeat to the Silver Ferns was the first Alexander's side had tasted in the 10-day event but significantly it follows on from the shock loss in the Commonwealth Games decider to England last year.

New Zealand, who had the oldest team in Liverpool, fielded the majority of the players that had flopped so spectacularly at the Gold Coast Games and under the smart coaching of Noeline Taurua used that experience to great effect in the final.

Unlike Alexander who made four changes to the side that beat South Africa in the semi-final, Taurua stuck with the same line-up for the third successive match.

But Alexander denied switching her side had anything to do with the defeat and said her youthful side should take great encouragement at the way they fought back from seven goals down in the second half to almost snatch the game.

"We're terribly proud of them and they have done everything we have asked from them," she said.

"From a high performance point of view you couldn't get athletes that are more professional.

"We have said in the change rooms that we want people to be hurting and for them to remember that.

"That helps drive athletes to higher levels of performance in training.This group will now go on to the next cycle and improve from that."

The defeat denied Australia a fourth successive world title as New Zealand lifted the trophy for the first time since 2003.

In a sixth straight World Cup final match-up between the two nations, the game was a predictably tight affair with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions in the opening exchanges.

However, New Zealand broke the game open just before half-time with three quickfire unanswered goals and never surrendered the lead again despite a late fightback from the Diamonds.

Alexander said the disappointment of defeat was different to the sinking feeling she felt when England stole the gold medal match last year with a last-second goal to stun the red-hot favourites.

"It's very different to last year where we were ahead by six going in to the final quarter so it was far more of a shock," she said.

"This one we were behind and trying to catch up.

"We were fantastic in the second half and just needed one more turnover to take the game into extra time.

"I would have backed us in that. I thought our legs were holding out and we were ready to go."