Playing with plenty of intent and heart, Go Media Stars bounced back from a tough week to claim a thrilling 57-52 win over VIP Frames and Trusses Tactix in Auckland on Sunday.
Former Silver Fern Donna Wilkins launched her elite level coaching career in the best possible fashion after steering VIP Frames and Trusses Tactix to a 57-50 win over a dogged Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in Christchurch on Sunday.
Take a look at the opening match-ups of the 2025 ANZ Premiership.
Uprooting her life for the opportunity to coach elite level athletes, Donna Wilkins has hit the ground running since taking over as head coach of VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix for the 2025 season.
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.
