Mystics cover all bases for "mystery’’ season ahead

Intent on learning their lessons from last year, the GoSweetSpot Mystics have identified key focus areas to harness and deliver on their potency for the 2026 ANZ Premiership campaign.

The heavily-favoured Mystics were stunned by a rampant Tactix in last year’s grand final which has resulted in a priority list of work-ons for the upcoming season.

Retaining seven of a well-established core, the three newcomers are familiar faces who only add to the firepower within. Former Silver Ferns Maia Wilson (shooter) and defender Phoenix Karaka, making a return from maternity leave, add experience and knowledge.

Making a seamless transition as injury cover last season, shooter Sophia Lafaiali’l has earnt her first full contract, is familiar with the environment and was a standout in the handful of games she played.

"We’re working on a really strong shared leadership model this year which cuts across the team, working to deepen our game understanding as a group, and also looking at how we cope under pressure because we clearly had some work to do in that area after last year’s grand final,’’ Mystics coach Tia Winikerei said.

"That will always sting. Not because we lost but because we didn’t play well. We didn’t play anywhere near our ability, so that was hard and it will always hurt. But it was a good lesson.’’

With the backbone of shooter Filda Vui, midcourters Peta Toeava, Tayla Earle and Katie Te Ao, and defenders Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, Catherine Hall and Charlotte Manley returning, the Mystics ooze stability and experience.

"Experience is certainly positive, but just because we’ve got stability, experience and have been together for some time, we’ve still got to keep looking for new ways to play and grow the team, and not get too familiar with what we’ve done before,’’ Winikerei said.

"That’s the growth piece, where we need to innovate with what we actually do on a daily basis, to keep everyone engaged.

"I’m delighted with the make-up of the team, the experience and the youth is a really nice blend. We’ve got a few players who are quite young but have been in the team for two or three years now and are really starting to come in to their own, so that’s exciting.’’

As part of their pre-season build-up, the Mystics spent useful time in Australia preparing and playing matches against Suncorp Super Netball teams, the Queensland Firebirds and Sunshine Coast Lightning.

With several Silver Ferns now plying their trade in Australia, the make-up of the New Zealand teams is, in some cases entirely different to recent seasons, leaving Winikerei a little unsure of what to expect.

"The competition’s going to be interesting and it’s a bit of a mystery at the moment,’’ she said. "While the Mystics, the Steel and the Magic, to a large degree, are fairly similar, there are three teams that are quite different.

"There’s an international flavour coming in for some teams which I think will be really healthy for the competition. While we have an experienced team, a lot of them won’t have played against many of the players that are coming in to this year’s competition.

"So, it’s a bit of a mystery looking ahead, which will make it interesting and exciting to work with as a group. We won’t really know how the opposition really looks until after the first round.’’