Shooter change should have been earlier: Bloxham
WITH hindsight, Steel coach Reinga Bloxham would have made a change in the shooting circle earlier.
The Southern Steel made a stuttering start to its ANZ Premiership title defence.
The backtoback champion was beaten 6664 by the Northern Stars in Hamilton on Sunday.
The connections between the feeders and the shooters were a little off and Bloxham waited until late in the third quarter to
make a switch.
New recruit Lenize Potgieter made way for towering goal shoot Jennifer O’Connell and the Steel stormed back into the contest, drawing level with about four minutes remaining.
It had cut the gap which had ballooned to 10 goals, and the feeders looked much more com fortable with a taller target near the post.
But a crucial miss from Te Paea SelbyRickit resulted in the match slipping away.
‘‘I probably would have [made that change earlier], to be fair,’’ Bloxham said.
‘I was hoping that they’d be able to work their way through it.
‘‘But I needed to change things up and do something differently.’’
‘‘I think we were a little bit hesitant at the start and we didn’t have the best connection,’’ Bloxham added.
‘‘But that was probably to be expected. I thought we took quite a lot of time to settle and the Stars came right at us.’’
Potgieter produced a good debut performance. But she is a very different type of shooter to the players the Steel have typically had in the goal shoot bib.
The Steel’s main feeders, Gina Crampton and Shannon Saunders, struggled to adjust.
‘‘When Jen came on I think they [the feeders] felt a little more comfortable because they know how she works and the timing of how she moves.’’
Despite that, Bloxham may start with Potgieter and SelbyRickit for the game against the Mainland Tactix in Christchurch tonight anyway. She believes in the combination.
‘‘At this level we still have to challenge ourselves and be able to persevere. If we want to get better, we have to work on that connection with Lenize.
‘‘When it comes, it is going to look good. We have talked about it taking a little while.
‘‘But when it happens in real time in games when you are under pressure, it can look a bit different . . . and that played out [on Sunday].
The Tactix started its campaign with a 4842 win against the WaikatoBay of Plenty Magic. But the victory came at a cost. Wing attack Erikana Pedersen had to be helped from the court after suffering a leg injury early in the match.