Fighting talk means Magic are not foxing

The fighting talk coming out of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic camp after a three-game losing streak is no front, according to coach Noeline Taurua.

In fact, she says there's been an air of excitement in anticipation of tonight's clash with ANZ Championship top-of-the-table Vixens in Melbourne. That excitement, she says, is due in part to Magic sitting at the bottom of the points table. They have nowhere to go but up.

Taurua is adamant everything is fine, that the team is in good spirits and remaining positive and that progress is being made - it's just taking a while to pull it all together.

What she and the team are very aware of is that they now also need to inject a sense of urgency - they need to win a game.

While many may consider Vixens, riding high and with the home advantage, will not be beaten tonight, Taurua believes if anyone can beat them, it's her team.

What has been missing is that killer instinct needed to seal a win when they are in the lead and dominating, as happened against NSW Swifts last week when Magic capitulated under pressure and lost by two after holding a handy four-goal lead.

According to the competition statistics, individually, some Magic players have been performing well, featuring in the top 10 of most of the "good" stats - Irene van Dyk for her 93.4 per cent shooting accuracy, Laura Langman for goal assists, Casey Williams for rebounds, Julianna Nauoupu for centre pass receives and Leana de Bruin for intercepts.

"Players are improving and progressing but [they need to have] that fire in the belly, that hunger and fight, especially when the momentum changes and the pressure is put on by the opposition - that's where we are lacking at the moment ... that's our downfall," Taurua said.

She was more than happy with the progress Magic had shown week on week and what the team needed now was to "stay united and tough this out," she said. "This week we've been quite specific regarding what we need; more gains out of the defensive end, what the plan is when we're up; what our plan is when we're down; make sure we're all on the same wavelength."

Taurua acknowledged the Vixens were riding high and said they had been playing "some nice netball".

The Magic expect to face a clinical Vixens in front of a very parochial crowd tonight. Defensively, the Melbourne side have been strong and tenacious while on attack they have kept errors to a minimum.

Tonight will be the Vixens' first home game of the season and they have a good record at Melbourne's Hisense Arena, winning 15 of 21 matches they've played there.

"It's No1 against No10, there's nowhere to go but up for us but it doesn't matter where either team sits on the table," Taurua said. "If any team can knock them over, it's us. We have the firepower, the capability and the history to go there and win and that's quite exciting - we just need to put it out there, do the job."

Round 4 matches

• 
  Today: 4.20pm, Southern Steel v West Coast Fever, Dunedin
• 
  Tomorrow: 2pm (NZT), Melbourne Vixens v Waikato/BOP Magic, Melbourne; 2.20pm, NSW Swifts v Queensland Firebirds, Sydney; 7.20pm, Northern Mystics v Adelaide Thunderbirds, Auckland
• 
  Monday: 7.40pm, Central Pulse v Canterbury Tactix, Porirua