Netball: Attack causing Magic most concern

The Magic need to regain some of their attacking sting ahead of Monday’s crunch match against the Swifts. Photo / Getty Images

It is attack, rather than their much-analysed defence, which is giving Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic coach Noeline Taurua headaches ahead of their crunch transtasman netball league match against the New South Wales Swifts.

The Magic's seven-match winning streak ground to a halt with a loss to the Southern Steel followed by a one-point defeat at the hands of the Queensland Firebirds over the weekend which leaves New Zealand's premier team in third place and glancing at teams queuing up behind them with three rounds remaining until the playoffs.

A match against the unbeaten Swifts in Sydney on Monday now looms large for a side who Taurua says have lost some of their attacking sting.

"We spluttered through that (Firebirds) game. We had a lot of ball so for us to lose is quite big because we weren't on our game," she said.

Most critics believe the Magic are struggling to replace defender Peta Scholtz, who suffered a season-ending injury three weeks ago.

Taurua has tried Kahurangi Waititi, Jodie Tod and shooting specialist Jess Tuki at the back alongside Silver Ferns captain Casey Williams.

After the Firebirds loss Williams spoke out on the issue, believing Tod was the best fit at goal defence, rather than Tuki, who played the first half.

"It's not my decision," an annoyed Williams told The Waikato Times.

"But I have a say at training and I make my feelings known.

"It's good to have options and to try things but we need to put the best combinations out there."

Taurua said the issue had been "blown out of proportion" and that statistics showed they were winning ample ball in the defensive circle regardless of who was played there.

"Our problem area is our goal attacking area. We're either unable to convert or get the ball into the attacking cirle."

Taurua even took the step of swapping the bibs of veteran goal shoot Irene van Dyk and Jodie Brown in the second half, a tactic employed in 2009, to try to remedy the problems.

"For that particular moment, we needed to do something quite radical to get her (van Dyk) available to the ball. That seemed to work for us so I haven't ruled that (repeating the tactic) out."

A loss for the Magic would see them drop into a classic battle for the playoffs.

The fourth-placed Southern Steel could move level with them as they host the struggling Canterbury Tactix at their Invercargill stronghold, also on Monday.

New Zealand's other hopefuls, the seventh-placed Northern Mystics, kick-start the round on Saturday at home to the side one place below them, the West Coast Fever.

The Firebirds, who have the best run for home, should maintain their winning form at home to the Central Pulse on Saturday.

Sunday sees a key fixture for the second-placed Adelaide Thunderbirds, who travel to Melbourne to face struggling defending champions the Vixens.

- NZPA