MATCH PREVIEW: (Round 12) STEEL v MAGIC

TEAM NEWS:

Home advantage in an Elimination Final is the goal of the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel and captain Wendy Frew believes they are well placed to seal that spot. They will go into Super Sunday as red hot favourites against a Waikato-BOP Magic team struggling to find form in the second half of the season as their injury count starts to take its toll.

But the Steel stalwart feels they have areas to improve in their last two matches heading into the finals series. They failed to build on leads against the Silvermoon Tactix and the wing defence said they were guilty of getting too frantic at times.

“I think we were a bit hesitant with the ball. We were just not doing the work on attack to get free so we’ll certainly look at that,” Frew said.

The Magic were also hesitant with ball on attack against a suffocating defence last week but what proved most disappointing for stand-in captain Sam Sinclair was their inability to close out a game that was “within our grasp.” The Magic remain in contention for the top three and Sinclair said they needed to step up for those players who have been ruled out through injury.

WHO TO WATCH:

Te Paea Selby-Rickit (Steel) – taking on a senior role in the shooting circle this season, the Silver Fern turned on a player of the match performance last Monday with her court work, accuracy and rebounding ability.

Sam Sinclair (Magic) versus Shannon Francois (Steel) – a great match-up looms between these two passionate players. Both possess oodles of speed and have impeccable vision into their shooters along with a dogged determination on defence.

Kate Lloyd (Magic) – shutting down Steel shooter Jen O’Connell is proving a tough ask for defenders in the ANZ Premiership. The work of Lloyd’s defenders out front will be vital if the tall goal keeper is to limit O’Connell’s impact on the game.