Steel break record with Stars win

The unbeaten Southern Steel have broken a franchise record with their 82-58 national netball league victory over the Northern Stars.

The southerners have won 11 games in a row in this season’s ANZ Premiership, eclipsing their 2016 ANZ Championship 10-game winning streak.

Southern Steel coach Reinga Bloxham said the record has snuck up on the competition leaders.

‘‘It is something we probably haven’t talked about,’’ she said.

‘‘A real focus is making sure that we are having consistent performances and improving each week.

‘‘I think although the record was great we haven’t got that great feeling about the game.’’

While Steel started the season strongly, an unconvincing 61-55 win over the bottom-placed Tactix in round seven gave them the wake-up call they needed.

‘‘I think the Tactix game was a bit of a turning point; from then on, we have tried to keep a consistent lineup and just work on our connections on the court,’’ Bloxham said.

An impressive 80-44 win over the Pulse last Wednesday gave the Steel plenty of confidence heading into the Stars game.

‘‘I know last week there was a really great feeling amongst our team because of how we played,’’ she said.

‘‘We went out there to try to replicate that [yesterday] and I think in that third quarter we showed that we weren’t quite up to it.’’

The Steel sits on 22 points from 11 games, with a home final almost guaranteed with four games remaining, although they still need three wins to better their unbeaten streak of 13 games from the transTasman league in 2016.