Commentator’s Call: Round 5
SKY Sport commentator Jenny Woods takes a look at Jhaniele Fowler-Reid’s record breaking performance, and picks the Mystics to get the win in Monday Night Netball versus the Pulse – all this and more in the Commentator’s Call!
Jhaniele Fowler-Reid is no taller than when she first joined the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in 2013. She’s still 1.98m. But where she has grown, is as a player. The 27-year-old Jamaican is a different proposition under that Steel goal than what she was four years ago. In putting away 70 of the Steel’s 90 goals against the Silvermoon Tactix on Wednesday night, Fowler-Reid oozed confidence and delivered a shooting master class at 93% accuracy. It was an individual and team performance that smashed records.
The Tactix won’t have too long to dwell on what happened at Horncastle Arena in Round 3. They’re back there on Sunday afternoon to host the WBOP Magic.
The Magic themselves will be looking to get back on the front foot after successive losses to the Steel and the SKYCITY Mystics. The latter in particular was a fine game, in which the Magic came back strongly against the Northerners, winning the second half.But a 12-21 scoreline in the second quarter cost them dearly, and Margaret Forsyth won’t want a repeat from her young side.
Monday Night Netball is at TSB Bank Arena in Wellington for what promises to be a beauty. It’s the return match between the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse and the Mystics. When these two met in Round 1, it was a 56-55 victory to the Pulse. The exciting thing about this clash is that both these sides have improved since then.
A feature of the Mystics win over the Magic was the dominance of Bailey Mes and Maria Tutaia over the Magic combination of Kelly Jury and Casey Kopua. If they can repeat that performance over the in-form Phoenix Karaka and Katrina Grant, the Mystics will fancy their chances. But then there’s the Pulse midcourt. In essence, there’s a lot to like about both these teams so this is appointment viewing.
The Steel return to the fray on Wednesday night with their first taste of the Vodafone Events Centre at Manukau. The Stars will be well aware of what the southerners dished out to the Tactix and won’t want to be on the receiving end of a second helping. These sides met in the very first encounter of the ANZ Premiership - a month ago, to the day. That resulted in a 75-57 win to the Steel. The Stars have been inconsistent since then, still looking for the right combinations. But one area working well is defence, with captain Leana de Bruin and increasingly Sulu Fitzpatrick coming into their own. They’ll need everything they can muster to harness the Steel juggernaut.
So – in a nutshell – the Magic will regain that winning feeling over the Tactix, the Mystics will even the ledger against the Pulse and the Steel will overpower the Stars.
You can hear Jenny and her commentary team colleagues calling all the action live on SKY Sport and FanPass (NZ fans) and on the ANZ Premiership Facebook page (outside NZ).