Francois: it’s going to be epic

The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel are the pride of the Deep South and they enter the ANZ Premiership Grand Final as undeniable favourites.

But previous victories or results count for nothing according to midcourt maestro Shannon Francois.

“Any team is going to come out hungry and we’re going to be the same. It’ll be whoever can put out the most consistent 60 minute performance that will take home the trophy,” Francois said ahead of Wednesday night’s decider.

The Steel have comprehensively beaten the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse in all three outings this year; in fact the Pulse haven’t so much as taken a quarter off the Steel.

But again, Francois says it counts for little.

“It’s going to be a really exciting game for the fans. Throughout the court we’re matched pretty well,” she said.

“Their defensive line-up is very agile and they confuse the space really well. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on outside as well as inside to try to force us to misplace our feeds into Jhaniele [Fowler-Reid] and stop the ball before it gets there.

“It’s going to be a whole other intensity with more on the line – it’s going to be epic.”

If there’s one thing Francois does agree with it’s the value of the home court advantage and that parochial Invercargill crowd that packs ILT Stadium Southland; it’s a venue teams all over the world fear venturing into.

“It’s massive; the Steel fans are the best in New Zealand,” Francois said.

“The fans are going to come out in their masses; everyone has been so supportive throughout the year, especially in the last couple of weeks with everything we’ve had to deal with.

“I think that’s definitely going to be the extra support we need and they’ll do everything they can to help us get over the line.”

The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel will host the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse in the inaugural ANZ Premiership Grand Final on Wednesday 28 June at ILT Stadium Southland. NZ-based fans can catch all the action live on SKY Sport 1 and Radio Sport from 730pm, while overseas fans (outside NZ) can tune in via the ANZ Premiership Facebook page.