Pulse ready to come out firing in must-win clash
Restoring confidence has been key for Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse ahead of their pivotal ANZ premiership outing against WBOP Magic in Palmerston North on Monday.
Coming off back-to-back losses, the Pulse are in a race against time to lift themselves off the floor and remain in contention for a place in the Finals Series.
With just four games remaining in the regular season the Pulse have entered must-win territory in the ever-tightening run to the line.
GET TICKETS: PULSE v MAGIC, MONDAY NIGHT, PALMERSTON NORTH
The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel have already confirmed their spot in the Finals, the Magic, SKYCITY Mystics, Pulse and still with an outside chance, the Northern Stars battling for the remaining two places.
The Pulse have hit a speed bump with their form in recent weeks, leaving the players frustrated and the coaching staff throwing everything into their preparations for the Magic match-up.
“There’s been a massive focus on this next game,” coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said.
“We’ve just got to go all out, so we’re working hard to check clarity, increased our trainings for the week and doing everything we can basically. This is the season right here and we’ve got to go for it.
“We’ve got to make things happen. We’ve proven that we can play together and lately we’ve just lost that connection on court. Our build-ups have been great, they’re all certainly working hard together and they’re taking ownership of stuff so it’s not like it’s disintegrated.”
Now into the stage of the season where teams are meeting each other for a third time, some sides have lifted while the Pulse have plateaued a little. Ball retention has improved but a previous area of strength, turnover gains, has dropped off.
“We’ve got to come out now with not necessarily lots of new stuff but a lot more conviction with what we do,” McCausland-Durie said.
“It’s been a strength of ours that we stay quite calm and composed but we actually need to get a bit agitated and aggressive in our play now.
“Our challenge is finding the balance between calculated risk while maintaining accuracy along with patience.”
The Pulse’s ability to successfully hunt the ball will go a long way to helping disrupt and break down the Magic’s accomplished midcourt connection with their shooters and in particular high-scoring and accurate South African import Lenize Potgieter.
“We know by increasing our ability to play with a bit more openness and courage we’re in business because we’ve got enough talent to do that,” McCausland-Durie said.
“Every team’s been through what we’ve just been through. They’ve been through it earlier, it’s us now and they’re all coming out of it. We’ve got to just come out of it quickly because we don’t have time for anything else.”
The Te Wananga o Raukawa Pulse will host the WBOP Magic in Monday Night Netball at Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North – GET TICKETS.
Can’t make it to the game? Fans can catch all the action live on SKY Sport 1 and Radio Sport from 7.30pm, while international fans (outside NZ) can catch all the action live on the ANZ Premiership Facebook page.