Netball: Time running out to create some Magic

Adine Wilson. Photo / Getty Images

As the weeks tick by and the ANZ Championship fast approaches the business end of the competition, time is running out for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic to produce the slick and polished brand of netball they've been promising.

With a bye next weekend followed by a showdown against competition favourites the Melbourne Vixens in round 10, the Magic desperately need a strong performance against the Southern Steel in Invercargill tonight.

While the Magic are, as expected, leading the way for the New Zealand teams this year, sitting second on the competition standings, their form is not as good as most would expect at this stage of the season.

Their most recent wins may have been by convincing margins, but their general play has been far from convincing. Therein lies the dilemma of having a team full of big names - anything short of a flawless performance and they will be deemed to have failed.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua admits the heat is on her side tonight to put on a comprehensive performance.

"We're never going to be perfect all the time, but we need to make sure we can keep our performance quality. It's important that we keep our structure, I think at times we're inconsistent in regards to that area," said Taurua.

The Steel have themselves been applying the blowtorch to the Magic in the lead-up, talking up their chances of pulling off an upset. The Southern side are drawing inspiration from their shock 47-43 win over the Magic in round 13 last year and are hoping a return to their fortress at Stadium Southland will get them over the line.

The Magic have a poor record in Invercargill dating back well before the advent of the transtasman league.

Taurua expects the rowdy Southland crowd will play a big part in firing the Steel - particularly veterans Adine Wilson and Donna Wilkins, who have a long association with the southern franchise.

"There are some very wily campaigners in there, players I would say are game breakers and they definitely bring the passion for the Steel," said Taurua.

In the weekend's action, the Canterbury Tactix finally got over the line after a run of narrow losses, scraping past the Central Pulse 49-46 in Christchurch. Trailing by just one goal heading into the final spell, the Pulse were once again in with a shot of breaking their transtasman league duck, but lacked calm heads when it counted.