Commentator’s Call: stability the key
In this week’s Commentator’s Call, SKY Sport’s Jenny Woods looks at the advantage teams gain from stability – the Steel, Central in the Beko Netball League and in a different vein, the Mystics on Wednesday night.
The Ascot Park Southern Steel sailed past the Northern Stars in Round 10 in yet another display of what it means to have a team that’s played together for a number of seasons. Every member of that side was in Steel colours last year, with the exception of Jen O’Connell, who moved up into the top tier from South’s Beko Netball League team.
Similar benefits are being reaped by Central in the Beko Netball League. Coach Natalie Milicich inherited a core of seven players from last year, and her side hasn’t been beaten in this year’s competition.
But it’s the SKYCITY Mystics who have pulled off something no other team has managed in this year’s ANZ Premiership.At the completion of Wednesday night’s game against the Te Wananga o Raukawa Pulse, the team’s interchange sheet was clean. Helene Wilson did not make one substitution in their 64-53 victory.
There are many reasons coaches make changes during a game, and not all of them are negative. This has been a competition which has seen a lot of substitutions, in part perhaps due to the fact the rules allow unlimited changes during a match. The Pulse made 12 in that Round 10 game, admittedly, some of them tweaks, such as the switching between Katrina Grant and Phoenix Karaka in the defensive circle. But the advantage for the Mystics of rounding out the match with the starting seven was clear to see.
The Mystics win was their best game of the season, and it came just when they needed it most. It’s lifted them into third place on the ladder, equal on points with the Pulse, but above them courtesy of superior goal percentage.
The race is on between the WBOP Magic, the Mystics and the Pulse for those last two finals berths. The Magic are two points ahead of the others at the moment, but have the Pulse, Mystics, Steel and Stars still to play one more time. They have a winning record against the Pulse, but that will be tested in Palmerston North on Monday night. Yvette McCausland Durie’s side will be disappointed with their last two games, and want to hit back on home turf.
That match is preceded by the Stars encounter with the Silvermoon Tactix in Manukau on Sunday afternoon. The recent form – and again more settled lineup – of the Stars would have to favour the home side. The fly in the ointment there, and it’s a big fly, is the fitness of Leana de Bruin.She left Invercargill on crutches at the weekend, thanks to a foot injury. The skipper can now walk without them, but how assured she is of taking the court, remains unclear.
The Mystics’ clash with the Steel has been spiced up by their performance against the Pulse. If they can put out that sort of attacking flair next Wednesday, the league leaders will have their hands full.
It will of course be Anna Harrison’s first game since announcing her retirement from international Netball. From taking a break to pursue her Olympic beach volleyball dream, to returning and playing the best Netball of her career, Harrison has shown herself to be one of the game’s great characters. She’ll be remembered for her theatrics, the “Harrison Hoist” and the fact she has managed to weave a husband and two children into an illustrious career.
The good news is this is an international retirement not, as far as we know, a domestic one. And she’s one player the Mystics will be counting on to fire against the Steel.