The match-up between Jane Watson (left) and Grace Nweke (right) will be crucial. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2024 www.photosport.nz
The defending champion Mystics are preparing for a backlash from a wounded Tactix in netball's ANZ Premiership elimination final.
The Tactix are coming off a 44-58 loss to the Pulse to end the minor round in second place and host the knock-out final in Christchurch on Saturday.
The winner will progress to the grand final a week later against the Pulse in Wellington.
The Tactix started the season with 10 wins from their opening 11 matches but have won only one of their past four matches, while the Mystics have won five of their past six.
Tactix captain Kimiora Poi said they had not spent much time dwelling on the loss to the Pulse, which denied them the chance to host their first ever grand-final.
"Obviously not the result we wanted on Monday but we moved on pretty quickly from it, we kind of didn't really talk about it once we came back in on Wednesday morning, had a good training Wednesday afternoon and today so we're pretty amped for this weekend," Poi said.
Mystics coach Tia Winikerei said getting a good start would be a priority for both sides.
"I think the Tactix will be disappointed with their performance against the Pulse so I think we'll experience a really strong Tactix side on Saturday and we need to be really prepared to grit our teeth and keep going for 60 minutes," Winikerei said.
"And you saw how dominant the Pulse were in the first part of the game and they were able to hold that momentum for the whole of the game so I think that was one of the things the Pulse did very well against the Tactix."
Tactix coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek is stepping down at the end of this season. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Tactix beat the Mystics in their first two meetings of the season, but the Mystics punished them in Round 12 and Poi said they had learnt from that game.
"We didn't get enough ball on defence against them last time and they came out of the box pretty fast, which we expect from them. We've just go to stay with them, grind it out and hopefully get some ball and then on attack just being a little bit more disciplined with the ball in hand because they are a team that are quite hard to get ball off," Poi said.
Until two rounds ago the Tactix were flying high but hit a bit of a lull when they lost to the Magic in the penultimate round of regular season.
"We haven't played our best netball ... it's the crunch time of the season, other teams came to play especially in that Magic game they had everything to gain from that game and we sort of had nothing to gain really.
"The Pulse game, obviously a bit disappointed with how that turned out in the end ... they got that roll on us in that last quarter, but we've kind of not even really talked about those games this week, we're focussed on the next game."
The Tactix will be driven on a number of levels, not least because their coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek is stepping down at the end of this season but Poi said there was so much focus on the game, that they had not had much time to think about it.
Poi said Delaney-Hoshek's message this week had been clear.
"We've just got to stand up, everyone bring their own individual game knowing that we've actually done the work and trained hard throughout the season. We've played some good games of netball, we have what it takes, it's just having that belief in ourselves when we go out there."
The Mystics have had a mixed season with star players Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava out for a large chunk of it through injury but returned in time to help push the side up into third on the ladder and keep their back-to-back title hopes alive.
Kimiora Poi Photo: John Davidson/Photosport
Mystics coach Tia Winikerei said there was a silver lining to their disrupted season.
"It's created opportunity for everyone in the team to contribute and play to the position that we've got to and I know that the preparation and the way that we've been able to achieve that has been through the strength of the team. So I'm really proud of the team for being able to manage those up and down periods that we've had throughout the season," Winikerei said.
The Mystics have beaten the two remaining teams in the hunt for the title by double digits since round 12 - defeating the Tactix 61-49 in round 12 and the Pulse 68-58 in round 14 and will go into the elimination final as favourites.
Every team that comes up against the Mystics has to contend with the attacking fire power between Toeava and Silver Ferns shooter Nweke.
"We've just got to cut that ball supply from Peta to Grace, and we've got a little bit of a game plan around Peta, also just playing our own game though, not getting caught up in those two players," Poi said.
The Mystics have averaged 63.9 goals in matches this season when Nweke has played more than half a game, and just 46.6 goals when she hasn't.
Grace Nweke (left) and Peta Toeava have a long history of terrorising defenders. Photo: Photosport
In recent weeks goal attack Filda Vui has been the perfect foil to Nweke, which has also contributed to the Mystics success.
"Filda's shooting exceptionally well. Last year she didn't shoot the volume that she's shot this year so to see her shooting and going to post is probably her best attribute, she's very accurate and can shoot from range so she's excited about that and I'm delighted that she's had that opportunity and been so successful," Winikerei said.
Mystics defender Phoenix Karaka was having a quiet season by her standards until switched to goal keep a few rounds ago.
"She's a world class defender, she's highly experienced across both positions, when she's back at goal keep she provides a strength in the leadership that she can provide in the circle, she has more time to see and to support Carys [Stythe] out the front and then she can see what's coming down the court. So I think she's leading really well and she's also playing exceptionally well at goal keep so she's doing a great job for us.
"And then last week we moved her back up to goal defence, and I think we saw her perform really well in that position as well so the interchangeable nature at which she gives us across the defence circle is a real strength for the Mystics."
Winikerei knows the Christchurch crowd will be loud.
"It's actually a really cool stadium to play in but it will be full of red ... we've given ourselves the opportunity to play in the elimination final. We know we're gong to come up against the home crowd and we're prepared for that. We had to play the final last year away from home and so it's somewhat similar to that and we've been to Tactix and been confident to play and won successfully down there in the past."
The elimination final starts at 4pm.