Heck, the Pulse have made the grand final
‘‘Heck, on to the grand final. Not bad.’’ No, not bad at all, Katrina. The Central Pulse have been in existence 10 years, with Katrina Grant a fixture since 2010. She became captain a year later and has made more losing speeches than you’ve had hot dinners. But after the team’s 59-52 win over the Northern Mystics in yesterday’s national premiership elimination final, the Pulse are off to the decider.
Wednesday’s grand final against the Southern Steel in Dunedin will be just the Pulse’s second playoff appearance and the skipper’s voice started to break when asked what she wanted to say about beating the Mystics at TSB Bank Arena.
‘‘It’s a really special group. At the beginning of the season we were predicted to come fifth,’’ Grant said.
‘‘We had some really good games, had a lull in the middle of the season and came together and realised that this team can play nice netball and we deserve to be in the top-three. We ended up top-two and with a home semi and we were just so pumped.
‘‘From that day, right through until now, we were just so amped to come out and show we can win and we’re a good side and this franchise deserves to have some glory for once and not be the team that everyone thinks they can beat.
‘‘So I don’t think it’s sunk in. It’s amazing that we’ve made a grand final.
‘‘Cat [goal shoot Cathrine Latu] and I; I just gave her a wee hug and it was just ‘we did it’ and I was like ‘I know’. It’s awesome and we thoroughly deserve it, I think.’’
It’s hard to argue with. Grant and the Pulse have suffered a long time and, as recently as a month ago, you suspected more disappointment was on its way.
An 80-44 thrashing by the Steel was followed by a 64-53 defeat to the Mystics and things appeared ready to take a familiar turn.
‘‘I’m so, so proud. Those Steel and Mystics games stick out so much and it really could’ve gone downhill. But this team, it fought back. Heck, on to the grand final. Not bad,’’ said Grant.
It took calm heads and resilience and unity to fight back from that twogame slump and those traits were in evidence yesterday too.
Mystics captain and goal attack Maria Tutaia didn’t miss a shot until the fourth quarter, finishing with 33/35. She put on a playmaking and shooting clinic and propelled the visitors to 16-10 and 30-28 leads after the first two quarters.
But the Pulse won the second half 31-22, on the back of a composed and methodical performance.
‘‘It was a definite grind after that first quarter, when we didn’t start well. We knew that and the girls showed heart and just kept digging and we pulled away in the end.’’
Goal attack Tiana Metuarau and wing attack Whitney Souness typified what the Pulse are about this year, tracking back on defence to win ball or deflect it to a team-mate.
The trick now is to do the same against the unbeaten Steel, in Invercargill.
‘‘It’s probably as tough as it’s going to get, but this team has a lot of belief in themselves and we’re not going to turn away from the challenge,’’ said Grant.