Netball: Title will fall to shooting stars

Maria Tutaia of the Mystics. Photo / Getty Images

As Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken remarks: goal shooters are a special breed. Along with a dead-eye and an unwavering focus, they need to have stern stuff mentally.

In tight, tense matches the spotlight falls on the shooters. Score the winning goal and they're heroines.

But a missed shot can mean they are left carrying the blame.

With tomorrow's ANZ Championship grand final between the Queensland Firebirds and Northern Mystics likely to be the tightest yet, this "special breed" will be key.

The Firebirds and the Mystics are the only teams in the league that get strong contributions from both of their scorers, making the title showdown a battle of the super-shooters.

On one side is the all-star pairing of Jamaican Romelda Aiken and league MVP Natalie Medhurst, while at the opposite end the heat falls on Cathrine Latu and long-range specialist Maria Tutaia.

Their partnership worked beautifully in last week's preliminary final victory over the Magic.

Latu, her side's main scorer with 28.6 goals per game, was held to just 15 goals by defender Casey Williams.

Starved of possession, Latu did well to keep Williams occupied under the post, letting Tutaia roam wide, where she easily slotted into the role of dominant shooter, with 28 from 30.

Mystics captain Temepara George says her side plan to employ a similar gameplan to limit the effectiveness of Firebirds defender Laura Geitz.

"I think what [Latu] is really good at is keeping defenders busy with her movement because they know she is so dangerous and that just leaves Maria with plenty of space."

The Firebirds operate a similar two-pronged shooting attack.

Their key strike weapon is Aiken. At 1.96m she is the most prolific shooter in the league with 488 goals this season. Her strength is her height. It is almost impossible to stop the ball from getting into her hands in a straight jumping contest, and she immediately gobbles up rebounds.

Critics of her game will point to a lack of calmness under pressure. She has been known to sulk when the calls don't go her way.

If Aiken is off her game, expect the crafty Natalie Medhurst to step up and dominate. The Australian international is confident to go to the post when the heat is on her shooting partner (she has a handy 83.1 per cent strike rate), but her passing is key.

The 27-year-old is the Firebirds' main ball distributor, leading her side in goal assists and centre pass receives, and Mystics coach Debbie Fuller believes the key to stifling the Firebirds attack is shutting down Medhurst.

"We need to upset her feed in to Romelda."