KEY POINTS:
There will be a wrestling of emotions come 7.45 tonight as New Zealand netball's most influential era enters its final hour.
How the players of the Sting, unparalleled in their success, and the Force, perennial bridesmaids of the league, keep that emotion in check will be a telling feature in this ultimate match of a decade of the National Bank Cup.
Five players have been there since the start in 1998, as has Sting coach Robyn Broughton, in her 100th game. The milestones keep rolling off: the Sting going for their seventh title in their 10th final; the Force aiming for their first title win in the first Auckland final.
It will to be a rugged clash - physically and mentally. All bodies will be on the line to grab that trophy for keeps.
Netball is still a non-contact sport, but as the athletes become more muscular and vigorous through the wonders of sports science, they push the rules to the limit. It means more competitive, aggressive and faster netball - and that's what makes the game more attractive.
Vilimaina Davu will always be in focus, because of her intimidating size and strength - it's helped New Zealand win more than a few tests over the years. Her Sting equivalent, Megan Hutton, plays a tough game under the post, too.
But it's not a crime - our netballers need to be unyielding and forceful to beat the Australians at their own game.
Nice girls tend to come off second-best.
Over 10 years, the National Bank Cup has done much to shape our Silver Ferns. It introduced international talent - Diamonds shooter Elaine Davis became captain of Jamaica, Natalie Avellino and Megan Dehn crossed the Tasman, and Irene van Dyk and Leana du Bruin came from South Africa.
It eased professionalism into netball, a sport until then run admirably by volunteers, who evolved from putting on a netball game to staging a sports event. Matches moved from school gyms to stadiums. Franchises established boards and structures that are now ready to take the next step up to the Tasman Trophy.
In 1998, players got a tracksuit and a drink bottle. Now, at an educated guess, the stars are rewarded with up to $40,000 for a season.
The bold step to make the game more appealing to the sponsors' dollar got more television coverage. Who would have thought it would make prime-time TV, live every week? Now male spectators rival females.
The Sting must take credit for leading the way, making an electrifying brand from a netball team; a team who have always given back to their fans. But tonight, the trophy won't go home with the historical favourites, the most consistent, or the best dressed fans. It will leave with the team who best handles the emotion.
We demand a spectacle to surpass the one we watched in awe last Friday night. It's the least you'd expect to mark the grand finale of a competition which has been the making of New Zealand netball.
