Harcourts expecting physical battle

Harcourts will be holding nothing back in their vital division two regional superleague netball match with Rimutaka at Taita tomorrow.
Whoever wins this game will earn themselves promotion to division one and the physicality of the exchanges are expected to highlight the importance of the result.
Harcourts player-coach Kelly Sargent appreciates that Rimutaka are a side who tend to stretch the contact rules to the limits and therefore she sees the need for her own players to "toughen up" after the big wins scored over Taita and Kapiti in their last couple of matches.
"We've pretty much had things our own way in those games but it's going to be a lot different tomorrow," Sargent said. "They (Rimutaka) will be in our faces the whole game and how we respond to that will probably decide whether we win or lose."
Sargent said the Rimutaka tactics would mean the onus would be on her players to keep their cool and retain their structure while moving the ball through court.
"Mentally we need to be tough, if they get into our heads we will be in trouble," she said. "We have to focus on what we do best. We can't afford to get frustrated and start making silly mistakes, that would be playing right into their hands."
In essence what Harcourts need to do is repeat the performance which gave them a deserved win over a strong Wellington Girls College side earlier in the competition They responded brilliantly to pressure situations on that occasion, particularly in the last quarter when the result was still very much in the balance. The key to the Harcourts victory then and probably tomorrow was the scintillating form of Katie Wyeth in the crucial centre position. She played with controlled aggression on both attack and defence and if she can exert anything like the same influence against Rimutaka she will be doing her team a huge favour. Wyeth is by no means the only player in the Harcourts line-up though with the experience and skill to handle anything the opposition throw at them. Others like Emma Foote (providing she has recovered from her knee injury), Carlene Karaitiana, Geraldine Carroll and, of course, Sargent herself are all proven performers too.
A win to Harcourts tomorrow and the consequent promotion which goes with it would be a huge fillip for Wairarapa netball. Our money is on them.