2024 ANZ Premiership Round 4 Preview
We take a look at the three match-ups coming in Round 4 of the 2024 ANZ Premiership.
4pm, Saturday 4 May
Steel v Stars at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill
Live on Sky Sport and free to air on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
One of these sides will walk away with their first win of the ANZ Premiership season and in front of their home crowd coupled with growing confidence, it would be hard to bet against the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel at ILT Stadium Southland.
Captain Kate Heffernan said it had been “super frustrating” to go down to the Pulse last week after a strong opening half, letting themselves down in the crucial third quarter.
“I think we did it to ourselves a bit but there’s lots of positives and you can feel it coming together. It was disappointing but there’s definitely belief growing so that’s the main thing.”
The combination between Georgia Heffernan and Grace Namana continues to impress but will face a different defensive style against the Stars with the more mobile defensive pairing of Kate Burley and Holly Fowler.
“I think they did a really good job,” Kate Heffernan said of the work in the shooting circle last week.
“It’s just being able to do it more consistently all through the court and looking after our shooters.”
Stars captain Maia Wilson was also left lamenting errors in the fourth spell after a narrow loss to the Magic.
“We’re getting ball on D (defence) but we’re not getting it through. It’s a bit gutting in that we have the ability to win these games, it’s maybe that top two inches we need to focus on.”
Wilson said they would also have to look at their starts after a promising second half last week.
4pm, Sunday 5 May
Mystics v Pulse at The Trusts Arena in Auckland
Live on Sky Sport
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
Injuries haven’t yet had an impact on the win column for Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse as they maintain their unbeaten record in the ANZ Premiership. They have been without goal attack Tiana Metuarau and are likely to be a few more weeks without her but have been able to absorb what has been thrown at them in the opening three rounds.
Midcourter Maddy Gordon also tweaked her ankle late in the match against the Steel and they will be hoping to have her back in what will be a key match-up with MG Mystics centre Tayla Earle. Pulse co-captain Kelly Jackson said it had been great to test new combinations early in the season and get their new recruits on court while getting the wins.
“It shows that we’re still calm under that pressure,” she said.
The Mystics suffered their first loss of the season last week, going down to the Tactix, with shooter Grace Nweke leaving the court late in the match with a knee injury. But captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson said they would be prepared if Nweke was sidelined.
“We lost Grace a couple of years ago for six games, so we know how important it is to train everybody in all of their positions and that’s something we’ve taken really seriously,” she said.
Sokolich-Beatson believed the Mystics let their “basics” slip in the loss to the Tactix and they would be working on “pass placement, taking our feet, and all those little things” ahead of their game against the Pulse.
7.30pm, Monday 6 May
Magic v Tactix at Globox Arena in Hamilton
Live on Sky Sport
International streaming on www.netballpass.com
The Trident Homes Tactix hit their straps in Round 3 and will take plenty of confidence to Hamilton having beaten the defending champions. The links on attack lifted and coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek was not afraid to make changes across the board when needed.
Greer Sinclair made the move into the centre role for the first time this season and her combination with Kimiora Poi worked well along with her outstanding vision into shooter Ellie Bird. Defender and vice captain Karin Burger, who celebrated her 50th game in the red-and-black dress, said the team would take plenty of “belief” into the next round following the win.
“We trained with the mindset that we had the desire to win, and we have to want it more than the other team,” she said after the victory over the Mystics.
Both Burger and Jane Watson were back to their best and kept the pressure on the much-vaunted Mystics attacking unit. Complacency could be their biggest threat heading into Round 4 where they take on an AVIS Magic side also given a boost having notched their first win of the season.
Magic captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio said the victory was needed to “lift spirits” as combinations were starting to stick.
“I just think we’re still trying to figure each other out – we’ve obviously got an entire new attacking end,” she said.
“We’re still trying to get that real clear connection with what people are doing – just normally and under pressure. It’s going to come with more consistent game time together.”