Same winning approach from coach for new-look Tactix

Finishing her first season as head coach of the ANZ Premiership title-winning VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix, Donna Wilkins faces an entirely different proposition coming into her second term for the 2026 campaign.

Backed by an experienced line-up last season, the Tactix join the Pulse as the teams with the most significant number of changes for the new season, off-season opportunities leaving the red-and-blacks with plenty of gaps to fill. And a totally contrasting scenario for Wilkins to navigate second time around.

"It doesn’t change my approach in how I want to coach the girls but losing seven players out of 10 is massive, so you’re going to see a more youthful Tactix line-up for this coming year,’’ Wilkins said.

"We’ve only got one that’s over 30, so we’ve got a lot of new athletes but we’ve also got a little bit of experience. It doesn’t change how I want to approach the season. At the end of the day, it’s the elite competition and we want to win……win games and protect out home court.’’

Wilkins is happy to have retained the same management team from last season, many with long experience in the environment and with her keen competitive spirit never far from the surface, she’s gearing up for the challenge in familiar fashion.

"Being a team’’ is the over-riding factor and how she can mould those pieces together in the short space of the pre-season to get the best out of her new-look side.

"When I look back at the contracting stage, you have to look at the bigger picture and decide who can you bring. A player can have the best skills individually but how you mould as a team is the big factor,’’ Wilkins said.

"When time’s against you as well and you’ve only got 10 weeks of pre-season, it’s not a lot of time to mould a team to hit the ground running in Round 1, so we’ve just got to find ways that we can do that and making sure our time together at training is quality time.’’

With a sprinkling of experience in long-serving midcourter Erikana Pedersen, fellow mid-courter Fa’amu Ioane, exciting two-point shooting specialist Amorangi Malesala and towering Australian shooter Charlie Bell, the Tactix also have a crop of rising young talent.

Midcourters Holly Mather and Parris Petera played strong roles in the Tactix 2025 winning formula.

"It’s hard to know how things will go,’’ Wilkins said. ``We’ve got no Silver Ferns, we’ve got nobody that’s in the New Zealand squad but we have a couple of players that went away with the New Zealand U21s (defenders Laura Balmer and Josie Seymour) and I think it’s important that those players see a pathway.

"They played in the World Youth Cup final, so they’ve got a little bit of experience, probably not a lot of ANZ experience, but this is how they grow and what a great opportunity for these athletes to come into the ANZ competition and show what they can do.

"The Pulse are probably in the same boat as us with a lot of change, even the Magic, we’re the three teams who were top-heavy and the expectation is probably on all of our shoulders to perform and get the results, and I’d like to think we’re a bit of a dark horse.

"Obviously, our aim is to make that top three, defend our home court, win games and give ourselves a chance.’’