Thunderbirds 52
Magic 42
After a gallant late-season comeback, the Magic have faltered at the last hurdle, outclassed by the Thunderbirds in last night's transtasman league final in Adelaide.
The fired-up Thunderbirds side, who themselves have had an up-and-down season, were simply a notch above the Magic, playing at greater speed, skill and intensity for the full 60 minutes.
The ANZ Championship trophy will now rest across the Tasman for yet another year, with the Thunderbirds becoming the third Australian franchise to win the crown.
After being on the verge of imploding just weeks out from the playoffs, the Magic produced a stunning reversal of form over the past few weeks, playing some of their best netball in their three seasons to win their way into the grand final.
But early on in last night's match it became clear that there wasn't going to be a fairytale ending to the comeback story.
The Magic simply had nothing left in their bag of tricks.
Although the loss still hurt, Magic coach Noeline Taurua said her side can take great satisfaction from defying their critics and fighting their way in to the grand final, when all odds were stacked against them.
"Over that four weeks a lot of things happened positively in the team unit, and whether we won or lost it wasn't going to be the measure of our season," said Taurua.
"We're disappointed we didn't win, but right over the court they were better than us, they were sharper than us and they did the business when it needed to count." The Thunderbirds, led by a player-of-the-match performance from English defender Geva Mentor, had the measure of the Magic from virtually the outset, with the visitors struggling to get any flow on attack.
Frances Solia and Jodi Brown in particular had problems coming to grips with the tight one-on-one marking and strong hands-over pressure from the Thunderbirds, placing extra pressure on their captain Laura Langman.
With the trio having to work hard for every ball, frustration set in, resulting in a number of soft turnovers.
Taurua admitted the occasion may have got the better of her side.
"It was a big occasion, some handled it well and for some, they didn't. They pulled themselves back a wee bit and worked hard at it, but that is how it goes."
For Magic captain Langman, the loss brought back painful memories of the 2008 title decider when they were out-gunned by the NSW Swifts.
"I can tell you it doesn't get any easier second time around."
Her emotions contrasted sharply with that of Thunderbirds co-captain Mo'onia Gerrard, one of the notorious "Bali Brigade".
Gerrard said having endured a number of lows this season - including the mid-season scandal in which she and three other senior players were slammed for jetting off to Bali during their bye round - made yesterday's win all the more sweeter.
"It's been an up-and-down season; but look as us, we're grinning now," she said.
For coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson, the premiership win was the culmination of three years of work.
She said it more than made up for the heartbreak of losing last year's final to the Melbourne Vixens.
"To go three-two-one was my plan right from the start.
"I thought with this core group of wonderful players we could get one and it would take us three years to get the right personnel list and to train them up and play the style that I had in mind and they came to the party beautifully," said Woodlands-Thompson.
As well as crediting her stars for setting the platform for the win, the Thunderbirds coach reserved special praise for rookies Erin Bell and Sharni Layton, both of whom stepped up to the big occasion last night.
"Erin Bell and Sharni Layton are both youngsters who hadn't even played much ANZ netball before.
"To play out of position and doing everything that we needed them to do was outstanding."
