The Ascot Park Hotel Steel have advanced to their first Grand Final in eight years after an all-the-way 60-54 win over the VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix in the Elimination Final in Invercargill on Sunday.
The road to the 2026 ANZ Premiership title continues this weekend, with the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel hosting the VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix in the Elimination Final in Invercargill.
The road to the 2026 ANZ Premiership title is set, with tickets for both Finals Series matches going on sale this week.
With Elimination Final hosting rights on the line, Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel eventually got over the line 56-54 in a riveting contest against neighbours VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix in Invercargill on Sunday.
Based in Christchurch and representing the Canterbury region, the Tactix were formed in 2008 after playing in the Coca-Cola/National Bank Cup national leagues as the Canterbury Flames.
The Tactix were one of the founding teams at the start of the semi-professional era for netball which heralded the introduction of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship in 2008. When that competition ended in 2016, they became one of the six teams to form the standalone elite New Zealand domestic league, the ANZ Premiership.
The Tactix struggled throughout the ANZ Championship but during the ANZ Premiership era have emerged as real challengers, going on to finish runners-up in the 2020 and 2021 Grand Finals.
Helen Mahon-Stroud was appointed the Tactix first head coach in 2008 while Julie Seymour was the team’s first captain.
The Tactix playing strip is in the traditional Canterbury colours of red and black. The team’s main home venues are Christchurch Arena, MainPower Stadium Rangiora and Cowles Stadium, Christchurch.
