Contributors – Nicole Mudgeway, Graeme Laughton-Mutu + Steve McLeod
The season so far
Round 12
The Magic kept up their winning streak with another win against the Stars, 51-47. The win means a clean sweep for the Magic against all three Stars matches this season, as well as ensuring the Stars are out of contention for the playoffs. Yet another bonus point secured by the Stars makes their tally of nine an ANZ Premiership record. Back to (basically) full strength, the Mystics surprised everyone but themselves with a convincing 61-49 win against table-toppers, the Tactix. The combined return of Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava restored the Mystics’ self-confidence, leaving the Cantabrian crowd somewhat silenced.
The smothering defence of the Mystics shut down the Tactix during Round 12. Image – Steve McLeod
The last game of the Round saw the Pulse deal a strong blow to the Steel at home, clinching a 65-38 win. Kelly Jackson had a blinder, finishing with 15 gains including six intercepts. To cap things off, the win saw the Pulse secure the Robyn Broughton Legacy Trophy.
Round 13
The Stars are now out to disrupt the other teams, but were unable to do so against their match against the Tactix, suffering a 65-54 loss to the red and black. Aliyah Dunn started her first match this season and played as though she’d never been away. The Mystics showed everyone that at full strength, they’re almost unbeatable as they won 68-47 over the Steel in their biggest win of the season so far. Despite the in-form Magic leading at every quarter break, they were unable to withstand a late comeback from the Pulse, who managed to clinch a 53-48 win. That brings the Pulse one step closer to a home final, and the bonus point loss keeps the Magic in the running for the playoffs, but means winning their next two matches is critical.
Round 14
The Mystics ensured they remain in finals contention with a 68-58 win over the table-topping Pulse. The second quarter saw the Mystics leave the Pulse in the dust (22-13), a margin the Pulse were unable to overcome. The Magic weren’t giving up without a fight and their two point win (51-49) over the Tactix sees them live another day. Both ends of the court played crucial roles in the Magic securing the win, as the Tactix found themselves unable to overcome the continual pressure.
Saviour Tui had another impressive performance highlighting her skills in Round 13. Image – Graeme Laughton-Mutu
With both teams seeking a second win for the season, the Stars and the Steel both left everything out on court. The Stars were victorious in a 54-53 win, despite the will of the Dunedin crowd.
Round 15
In Reinga Bloxham’s last match with the Steel, the team were unable to pull off a win against the Magic, who were putting in one last bid to reach the preliminary final. The Magic secured the win 55-44, meaning their finals hopes would be decided by games to come. The Mystics soon put an end to that however, with their 63-55 win seeing them hold onto third place. The last match of the round was to determine where the Grand Final would be played, and who would be playing the Mystics in the preliminary final. The Pulse showed the crowds why they deserved the win, a well fought match seeing the Pulse win 58-44.
The Tactix will now host the Mystics in the preliminary final Saturday 27th July in Christchurch. No doubt the Pulse will be watching on eagerly to see who they will be hosting the following weekend in the Grand Final.
Ladder at the completion of round 7 (taken from the ANZ Premiership website)
Milestones and Debuts
Pulse WD Fa’amu Ioane clocked her 100th national league match in the Round 12 game against the Steel. In the same round, Stars’ Kate Burley also played her 100th national league match against the Magic.
Kate Lloyd played her 50th match for the Tactix against the Stars in round 13. Also in Round 13, Mystics’ Danielle Binks was elevated from training partner to squad member for the remainder of the season, in the same week that she got the nod to make her first start.
In Round 14, Claire Kersten played her 100th national league match while playing for the Pulse. In a season that was meant to be her first in retirement, she’s probably spent more match minutes on the court than off it!
Called in as injury cover, Claire Kersten wouldnt have expected to reach her 100th game for the Pulse after retiring in 2023. Image – Graeme Laughton-Mutu
Injuries
At the tail end of the season it’s always encouraging to see players returning from injuries sustained earlier in the season, rather than more players taking the sidelines. Aliyah Dunn, Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava were all back to play (on limited minutes) from round 12.
Round 12 saw Erikana Pedersen miss the match due to an ankle injury (and the Tactix suffer a crushing loss to the Mystics).
Round 13 saw the Pulse return to almost full strength in their match against the Magic, with Maddy Gordon, Tiana Metuarau and Amelia Walmsley all taking the court.
For the three remaining teams, it appears that all have got the services of all their originally contracted players which feels like a vary rare thing after this season!
Talking Points
Tactix coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek announced that she will be stepping down from her role at the end of the season, despite this year tracking to be one of the Tactix most successful years yet. With a coaching career spanning over 13 seasons, Delaney-Hoshek has been head coach at the Tactix since 2017 and has guided the team to two Grand Finals (in 2020 and 2021) with strong hopes still for the 2024 campaign.
This weekend’s Elimination Final will be Marianne Delaney-Hoshek’s last home game as Tactix head coach. Image – Graeme Laughton-Mutu
Steel coach Reinga Bloxham has also announced that 2024 is her last season as Steel coach, as she heads overseas in 2025 to become the head coach of the LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons in the Netball Super League.
The absence of these two coaches as options for the Silver Ferns Assistant Coach begs the question of who will step into that role?
With a new format for the 2025 season confirmed (a shorter format, where each team plays the other teams only twice instead of three times), the possibility exists for Netball New Zealand to do something different with the extra space in the calendar.
Speculation suggests that some kind of trans-Tasman battle could be on the cards, but at this stage it’s still anyone’s guess.
There has been some mention that ANZ Premiership players might be permitted to venture overseas and play in the Australian SSN league, without it affecting their eligibility for the Silver Ferns. Currently, it’s a requirement that players be contracted to an ANZ Premiership team in order to play for the Ferns (unless exempted, and we’ve only seen that exemption for Laura Langman and Maria Folau – two Silver Fern veterans) but Dame Noeline Taurua has made it quite clear she is supportive of that policy changing.
While the international exposure for players will be invaluable, one has to question what the impact will be on the remainder of the ANZ Premiership league.
A recent RNZ article by Bridget Tunnicliffe dives into this further.
Another way to spice up the ANZ Premiership could be with the addition of a two point shot, not unlike what is seen in the Australian SSN league. The two point shot was impactfully experimented with by the Mystics and Stars men’s teams in their recent three match series. The first game saw the Mystics males nab a one point win (49-48) with a late super-shot penalty enabling Mystics goal attack Elliot Clark to save the day for his team.
The second match saw the Mystics effectively use the two point shot to win 66-41 in an otherwise equal game; the win means the Mystics secure the series and the Te Taonga Manu Taki trophy. The Mystics won the final match 47-46. The main difference with this two point shot experiment: it was for the duration of the game, not just the end of the quarter.
Although all focus is on the upcoming preliminary final (and the Grand Final if you’re the Pulse), it is expected Silver Ferns trialists will be announced early August.
At this stage, only Jane Watson and Te Paea Selby Rickett have both made themselves unavailable for selection for this year’s Silver Ferns Squad due to commitments away from the game.
Watch this space!
