Crunch time for Kia Magic as season heats up
Press Release April 16, 2014
The closesness of this year’s competiton points to a season-defining clash for both Kia Magic and Northern Mystics when they clash in ANZ Championship netball action in Hamilton on Sunday.
In the most closey contested trans-Tasman comeptition since its inception six year’s ago, there is little room for slip-ups on a congested points table and where no clear favourite has emerged.
After a heady five straight wins to start their season, Magic return to the playing action following an overtime loss to Central Pulse and last week’s bye round to lick their wounds, now needing to reignite their campaign. On the back of a poor start, Mystics have turned their season around in the nick of time with a return to the winner’s circle in their last two outings.
With a clutch of other teams, the Mystics are on the cusp, sitting on four losses and with it their season hanging in the balance.
``Everyone talks about the intensity of ANZ but truly this year, every game almost is a grand final,’’ Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald said.
``For some of those teams that are sitting on four losses, if they lose another one they could really be struggling. So, we are in this pressure-cooker situation now where no team can afford a loss.
``The competition is more evenly poised this year and one of the reasons for that is because there’s far more evenness across the New Zealand teams.
``It’s pretty cut-throat and I don’t think there’s too many competitions in the world that are as close week-in week-out as this one is this year.’’
After Magic won the first clash between the pair six weeks ago by 14 goals, Fitzgerald is expecting a much-improved Mystics for the rematch.
With former Silver Ferns midcourt maestro Temepara Bailey coming out of retirement to help cover an injury crisis in her old team, and willowy defender Anna Harrison back on deck, Magic will face a much different team to the one in the first clash.
``The last couple of weeks have shown that they’re really starting to find their form and the introduction of Temepara Bailey hasn’t done them any harm either,’’ Fitzgerald said.
``I think she’s an amazing player. You can’t introduce someone like her into your line and not get a lift out of it. She has a great understanding with (shooter) Catherine Latu.’’
But Fitzgerald believes her team will be a different look from then as well when the neighbouring franchisese come together for the all-important mid-season showdown.
``That was just our second game so we’re doing a lot different, I hope, than we were back then,’’ she said. ``There’s a lot of things we’ve needed to improve across the course of the competition to date, so I would imagine that we’ll be a different team as well.’’
Byes are an opportune time to refresh but can also disrupt momentum, Fitzgerald hopeful it has had the desired effect.
``We’ve tried to prepare the two weeks so it does work in our favour,’’ she said.
``We’ve tried to have a balance between keeping things normal but allowing the players to have a break mentally and physically as well. We hope we’ve done the right thing and if we lose on Sunday I won’t be using the bye as an excuse.’’
Jane Hunt
Kia Magic media liaison
Ph: 021-107-0287
