Critical derby sets tone for round nine
It’s a mixed bag of a round coming up in the ANZ Premiership, with the focus on that race for the third playoff spot, currently held by the Stars. David Long assesses the round nine match ups.
Northern Stars need to shine again
It’s official, the Stars are falling and as well as that they’re also failing, so they desperately need to reverse that trend against the Mystics at the weekend. They have now lost four games in a row and their grip on third place in the ladder has loosened slightly. The Stars’ last win came against the Mystics, with a 64-50 victory on March 30, so they could be the perfect opposition for the the Kiri Willscoached team to play to get back on track. But they need to quickly work out how to be more efficient in getting the ball to Ellen Halpenny and Maia Wilson, with the latter also needing to improve her shooting accuracy. The Mystics may have lost their last two games, but they were against the Pulse and Steel, so no one can be overly critical about those defeats. This is a big one though and their chances will be improved by goal defence Michaela SokolichBeatson striking some great form.
Running out of accolades
It is only round nine of the season this weekend, but already there’s nothing left to say about the Pulse, who will play the Tactix on Monday. Hand them the trophy now, the title is in the bag, game over. They may have shown some slight weaknesses early in their game against the Mystics last week, but the way they destroyed the Magic by 21 points on Sunday showed just how good they are. It’s becoming tough for the neutrals to watch their games because they’ll have the result in the bag long before the fourth quarter. While it would be brave for anyone to tip the Tactix to beat them on Monday, they do come into the fixture on the back of arguably their best result of the year, beating the Stars 49-46 and right now Jane Watson looks to be the best goal keep in the entire Premiership.
Potgieter for half century?
The Magic, who will play the Steel in what could be the game of the round, showed against the Pulse that while they’re capable of being a top three outfit this season, they’re not going to be title contenders. But this is a young team, learning the ropes under their coach Amigene Metcalfe and they can take a lot from the painful losses they’re occasionally having. 16-year-old prospect Khiarna Williams, who made her debut against the Pulse, showed that the Mystics don’t have a monopoly on talented teens in the Premiership and she could be one to watch over the remainder of the season. Someone who has been worth watching for a long time is Steel goal shoot Lenize Potgieter, who scored an incredible 49 goals against the Mystics on Wednesday night. Gina Crampton has also been playing well lately and it’s tough to see how the team from the south can slip up in this one.