KEY POINTS:
Nail the basics or their season will basically be over.
That is the scenario for the Northern Mystics heading into tonight's ANZ Championship match-up against the Southern Steel in Invercargill.
After a winless start to the competition, the under-fire Mystics are looking to revive their campaign with a strong performance tonight.
It will take a remarkable reversal of form from the Auckland side, who have looked disjointed in their opening four hit-outs - particularly against Australian sides.
Mystics midcourter Temepara George believes her side will be much more comfortable against the more familiar New Zealand style of play but she insists it is not the Australian style that has caused her side problems, but rather the pressure they put on themselves.
"I don't think we've actually struggled against the Australian style, it's more that we haven't stuck to our gameplan. In the games we've played against the Australian teams we've been right up there and we've been ahead at times, but we've let it go. So I think it's more our performance rather than giving the Australians credit," George said.
The Mystics' seemingly inexplicable run of bad form has been one of the most disappointing aspects of the competition for New Zealand netball. Despite boasting six current or former Silver Ferns in their side the Mystics can't seem to buy a win.
So what do the Mystics have to do to get some points on the board?
George believes it is about having confidence in each other and doing the basic things well.
"I think the biggest thing is we need to have that belief in ourselves as well as everyone around us,"George said. "We've been really drilling ourselves in training on making proper passes in to the shooters, making sure our passes are to them and not putting them under so much pressure."
But the Mystics can't expect any favours from the Southern side, who are playing their first game at home this season. George said the Steel would be fired up after a demoralising loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
"Playing down in Invercargill with the whole town behind them is going to be another real challenge for us."
While the match is crucial for both sides, tonight's late game between the NSW Swifts and Melbourne Vixens is expected to be the most intense battle of the round.
The two states have a history of close contests in their previous domestic competition and with both sides boasting past and present internationals, their rivalry remains.
The goal circle contest between Swifts shooters Catherine Cox and Susan Pratley up against Bianca Chatfield and Julie Prendergast is shaping up as a particularly mouth-watering battle.
Both weekend match-ups produced one-sided scorelines, with the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic overwhelming the Central Pulse 54-37 while the Queensland Firebirds racked up the most goals in the competition so far on their way to toppling the West Coast Fever 65-46 in Perth.
