Netball: Keenan faces battle to lift ailing Mystics

Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan has scarcely seen her team more subdued than on the plane back to Auckland on Tuesday. Their 17-goal loss to the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane the night before was always going to be tough to swallow. But knowing they have to head back and try to turn it around against the defending champions Melbourne Vixens on Monday night has put her team even more on edge.

The Mystics' promising campaign is all of a sudden looking shaky following back-to back losses to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic and then the Firebirds. And with the toughest assignment in the league next up, Keenan admits her side are feeling the heat. "After two losses the mood has, as you can well imagine, been tense," said Keenan.

"There is pressure on us because we've had two losses, and we want to stay in the running."

It wasn't so much the loss in itself, but rather the nature of the defeat that will be of the most concern for the Mystics coaching staff. In a round full of poor performances from New Zealand teams, the Auckland side were arguably the worst of a bad bunch, allowing the previously winless Firebirds to run riot.

Keenan said her side are under-performed right across the court. Their defensive structures need to be addressed after letting in 71 goals against the Firebirds. So, too, their attacking strategies require further work after failing to implement a successful plan B once the long-ball option to Cathrine Latu failed to come off.

"We have players that have to step up to the mark," said Keenan. "They're not playing as well as they should and that is causing us to sit down and address some issues before this next game. It's not so much individuals, it's how they combine as a unit and we have to look at that this week."

While the Mystics could well find themselves 2-3 after Monday night's match, they can take some comfort in the fact they at least have all their road trips to Australia out of the way.

Following this weekend's round, the league will morph in to a quasi-domestic competition, with the five New Zealand and the five Australian franchises doing battle among themselves for the next five weeks.

The Mystics still have to meet the NSW Swifts and West Coast Fever when the trans-Tasman clashes resume in round 11, but these will be played on home soil. Keenan said while it was nice to be able to look beyond this weekend and know they won't have to make any further trips across the Tasman - in the regular season at least - she isn't expecting the the going to get any easier.

"The ones in New Zealand aren't going to be easy. I don't think you can kind of go 'phew, it's over'. Everyone is going to be hard and we as coaches, the players and the management of the Mystics really need to up our game," she said.

After last weekend's horror round for Kiwi teams, the Mystics aren't the only local side under pressure. The Central Pulse get the round five action under way today, taking on the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Wellington.

A similar mismatch looks to be on the cards in Christchurch, where the Canterbury Tactix host the Magic tomorrow.

There was disappointment from the Magic on the number of opportunities squandered against a staunch Fever challenge in Hamilton last week and coach Noeline Taurua is expecting a similar level of intent from the Tactix.

After impressing against the Magic, the Fever are expected to put up another good fight against the Swifts in Newcastle tomorrow.

ROUND 5

Today
* 2:20pm Central Pulse v Adelaide Thunderbirds, Wellington.

Tomorrow
* 4:50pm NSW Swifts v West Coast Fever, Newcastle
* 6:50pm Canterbury Tactix v Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, Christchurch.

Monday
* 7:20pm Southern Steel v Queensland Firebirds, Invercargill.
* 9:05pm Melbourne Vixens v Northern Mystics, Melbourne.
Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan has scarcely seen her team more subdued than on the plane back to Auckland on Tuesday.