2024 ANZ Premiership Round 10 Preview
Take a look at the three match-ups coming in Round 10 of the 2024 ANZ Premiership.
4pm, Saturday 15 June
Mystics v Stars at The Trusts Arena in Auckland
Live on Sky Sport and free to air on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
The Stars will take a large shot of confidence into their Northern Challenge against the MG Mystics having notched their first win of the season. Coach Kiri Wills said victory over the Steel last week was a “relief”.
“Man that feels good, I had forgotten what that feeling felt like.”
She said she hoped it would be enough to “really push” their season along, but they would still be focussed on building connections heading into the Round 10 match.
“We don’t have Gina (Crampton), we don’t have Mila (Reuelu-Buchanan) so we have to build those connections to make sure those we do have, have that confidence to go out there again.”
Wills liked the “sisterly connection” between Holly and Lisa Mather through the middle and it would be hard to see the Stars coach make too many changes to the personnel which got them across the line last week.
In contrast, the Mystics are still searching for answers to solve their mid-season slump and must be hoping injured stars Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava are not far from taking the court again. Again, they were outplayed across the board and captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson said they needed to continue working on having two options to the ball.
“We ended up sending one option to the ball and when you do that against a team like the Pulse who run their feet through everything, with that shut down we need another option, and we didn’t have one.”
They will need to address a poor second quarter where it took them 10 minutes to trouble the scoreboard.
4pm, Sunday 16 June
Tactix v Pulse at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch
Live on Sky Sport
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
A cracker of a match awaits at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch between the two top teams on the ANZ Premiership ladder. It was a demonstration in defensive prowess from both teams when Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse got the better of the Trident Homes Tactix back in Round 5 when only 66 goals were scored in total.
The Pulse have been dealing with multiple injuries since then, but it has done little to stop their climb to the top of the Premiership table. Coach Anna Andrews-Tasola had the team running on all cylinders last week when they accounted for the Mystics in fine fashion. But the first-time ANZ Premiership head-coach was asking for more from her charges despite the 16-goal win.
“We were a bit disappointed, we did really well there was a lot of pressure in the first 10 minutes of each quarter and those last five minutes mentally we just didn’t finish off so that’s something we need to look at ourselves and correct.”
Tactix captain Kimiora Poi was pleased with her team’s latest outing, an 18-goal win over the Magic.
“That was close to a 60-minute performance – we kept building on the score which we were happy with.”
Her combination with fellow midcourter Erikana Pedersen has consolidated as the league has gone on and they will need to be at their best to crack the suffocating defence from the Pulse.
“It helps when you are good mates off the court, but we’ve played a lot of netball together, so I think it’s just the time together we’ve had that makes it work so well.”
7.30pm, Monday 17 June
Magic v Steel at GLOBOX Arena in Hamilton
Live on Sky Sport
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
AVIS Magic are breathing down the neck of the third-placed Mystics and will be out for maximum points against the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel to leapfrog the defending champions into Finals Series contention. Captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio felt her team went away from their game plan in the loss to the Tactix last week and would need to stick to structures when they meet the Steel.
“We just went away from our structures and being able to execute our job in the moment,” she said.
Defensively the Magic continue to deliver with Erena Mikaere ranked second in the league for both deflections and rebounds while her circle team-mate Georgia Takarangi is on top for intercepts. But on attack, Ekenasio said they needed to continue to put ball into players despite the tough defence.
“Sometimes we have to be able to give the ball when the person is on the body to be able to draw the contact otherwise there’s just nothing called, but that’s a learning for us as well.”
The Magic got over the Steel in Round 5 nine goals and the latter will be hurting after another significant loss, going down to the Stars by 17-goals. Captain Kate Heffernan said there was “a bit of disconnection” in their latest outing.
“We just turned over a bit too much ball on attack – a bit the same as the last week so it’s something we have to learn from.”
Steel shooter Grace Namana continues to make the most of her opportunities on court and remains in the top four in the league for accuracy and volume.