KEY POINTS:
Sue Hawkins believes she has the key to adding another gem to the strand of Diamond victories tomorrow.
The secret, she says, is making her stay-at-home players feel just as precious as their jet-setting Silver Ferns. The Diamonds coach treated her team to a break while her three New Zealand players - Maria Tutaia, Paula Griffin and Anna Scarlett - were on tour in Britain.
From her days as coach of the Queensland Firebirds, Hawkins is used to breaks in competition, a frequent occurrence in Australia's Commonwealth Bank Trophy.
"When your international players go away, you've got to refresh the others - you've got to make them feel special, too," she says. Other National Bank Cup franchises have been gung-ho during the three-week interruption - the Force played the Singapore national side; the Magic trained more often, trying to get their campaign back on track. The Flames went head-to-head with the Canterbury men's team, while the Sting and the Rebels played each other.
But Hawkins rewarded her side for their four-game winning streak with a week off. It was time to heal nagging injuries - such as captain Stephanie Bond's calf strain, suffered in the opening game, and mid-courter Rawinia Everitt's battle with blisters on the balls of her feet.
Hawkins made sure the players kept up their physical workouts and reintroduced them to the court last week, before the return of her Silver Ferns last night.
Tonight, the Diamonds will have a warm-up game ahead of tomorrow's home clash with competition leaders the Sting.
"I know that sometimes the first game back after a break is not your best. But we will blow the cobwebs out first," Hawkins says.
"If we don't win [against the Sting], it's not going to be because of the break. It will be down to things we didn't do on court."
Hawkins believes the game will be won or lost in the Sting's shooting circle - Daneka Wipiiti and Donna Hawkins versus the Diamonds' rangy defence of Bond and Scarlett.
She is also very aware of the Sting's "dynamo" centre, Liana Barrett-Chase, who could be a game breaker.
The Diamonds have their own hotshots - Tutaia, Grace Rasmussen and Griffin, who starred for the Ferns in their 24-goal win over England A last week. "Our youngsters up front seem to pull out something new every time they step out on court," Hawkins says. "We've looked closely at the Sting's game and how to counteract it. But we'll still play our style."
With two rounds to go, the Diamonds are in a strong position to make the semifinals - one point off leaders the Sting and the Force - and to avenge last year's disappointing fifth placing. Their final round-robin game, at home next weekend, is against the winless Flyers.
Hawkins isn't interested in the mathematical possibilities of cracking the top four - even though the franchise has calculated 64 different scenarios from the possible results of the next two rounds. "We just need to win - I won't look at it any other way. We won't be the team that misses out again," she says.
The Diamonds have sacrificed a televised afternoon game tomorrow, choosing to play a night match at Trusts Stadium in Waitakere to ensure a bigger crowd. A sell-out of 4500 is on the cards.
Silver Fern Julie Seymour will dash back from England to play for the Flames in their key match against the Shakers tomorrow. Seymour was to have stayed on in Britain to visit her late mother's family. Her mother died the week before the Ferns' tour.
But the Flames captain changed her ticket home so she would be back in time for the game in Christchurch.
The Flames still have an outside chance of qualifying for the semifinals - they are reliant on victories over the Shakers and then the Sting next weekend.
Round six
* Tonight: Flyers v Rebels, Palmerston North, 7.30pm.
* Tomorrow: Shakers v Flames, Christchurch, 4pm; Diamonds v Sting, Trusts Stadium, Waitakere, 7.30pm.
* Sunday: Force v Magic, North Shore Events Centre, 1pm (Live on TVOne).
