Tough game for Steel after losses
A TOUGH task awaits the Southern Steel if it is to turn around an unfamiliar streak.
The side enters its match against the tabletopping Central Pulse in Invercargill tonight coming off backtoback losses.
It is the first time since 2015 the side has lost two or more in a row in the roundrobin and it has been well and truly brought back to the pack.
While remaining in second spot, it is only marginally ahead of the three chasing teams and wins are crucial heading into the final five games.
To do that it will not only have to snap its losing streak, it will have to reverse the worst loss in Steel history.
Last time the Steel met the Pulse it was thrashed 7140.
The 31 goal deficit was 12 more than the previous worst loss, against the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
It was something not lost on captain Wendy Frew, who hoped the side would put out a better performance tonight.
‘‘I think when you get pumped by that much, you certainly need to learn from that and I’m really hoping that’s what we’ve done as a group.
‘‘We certainly debriefed pretty hard after it and we really don’t want to perform like that again.
‘‘For a lot of us it was our worst ever result in our careers losing by that much at this level, so we were really disappointed with that.
‘‘But in saying that, the girls have had a really good attitude at training this week.
‘‘I think there’s been a lot of effort in there and we know we’re going to have to improve if we want to be competitive and make the top three.’’
It has been hard to pick a weakness in the Pulse’s game this year.
The side has dropped just one match — by one point to the Northern Mystics — and has clocked up some big wins.
Its teenage shooting duo of Aliyah Dunn and Tiana Metuarau have been a revelation.
Through the midcourt and at the defensive end, teams have struggled to cope with the Pulse’s physicality and tenacity.
For Frew it was that, and the consistency the Pulse brought, which made it such a tough opponent.
‘‘They’re consistent and they bring that physical game.
‘‘Any loose ball they’re on to, they drive really strong through the ball.
‘‘So it means on attack we have to work really hard as a unit to make sure we’re putting the ball into the right space and making the game as easy on each other as we can.’’
Frew said the competition had been a good one and there were no easy games.
She was not quite at 100% after her achilles injury last year, but she was back to playing full games and felt she was not far away.
We certainly debriefed pretty hard after it and we really don’t want to perform like that again