Dana Johannsen: Whoever wins must restore some NZ credibility

Laura Langman. Photo / Getty Images

With the Mystics improving, 2011 has not only been a breakthrough year for the Auckland side, but also for New Zealand netball as a whole.

The Mystics became the third New Zealand side to get a taste of the transtasman netball league playoffs, and their win over the NSW Swifts last weekend ensured it was the first time two Kiwi teams have made it to this stage in the competition's history.

Yet still, you can't help but feel their efforts are going to be once again eclipsed by an Australian side.

Whoever wins through to the grand final - the Magic or the Mystics - they are going to have to take a massive step up to stop a rampant Queensland Firebirds side from becoming the fourth Australian team to take out the competition.

After coming through the season unbeaten and then knocking over their nearest rivals by 11 goals last weekend, the Firebirds are the red-hot favourites to claim the 2011 crown.

That would see them join the Swifts, Melbourne Vixens and Adelaide Thunderbirds in the winner's circle. But the Queensland side can go one better by becoming the first team to go through the entire season without a loss.

It would certainly be a deserved result for the Firebirds, who have suffered the heartache of falling just short of making the playoffs over the first three seasons of the competition.

But four years without a team from this side of the Tasman winning a title is going to be a little hard to stomach for New Zealand fans.

Whoever gets through to the grand final must win in order to restore some credibility to New Zealand teams in the competition.

After the Magic's performance against the Firebirds last weekend, many now believe it is the Mystics who have the best chance of halting the well-oiled maroon machine.

The Waikato side's dismal showing against the Firebirds brought back horror flashbacks to their 15-goal loss to the Vixens in the first round of the 2009 playoffs. They backed that performance up with another heavy loss to the Thunderbirds.

There are certainly parallels that can be drawn with this season and the Magic's failed 2009 campaign.

That year they suffered a couple of key losses in the lead-up to the finals, with two of their starting seven - Leana de Bruin and Frances Solia - ruled out for the playoffs. Although in the case of de Bruin, who was five-and-a-half months pregnant at that stage in the season, it was hardly unforeseen.

This year the Magic lost key midcourter Peta Scholz a week out from the finals, and while the Australian midcourter is on the road to recovery, there is no guarantee she will be ready by Sunday.