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ANZ Championship round 9 preview

Netball New Zealand

Saturday 30 May 2009, 8:47AM

By Netball New Zealand

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 Saturday 30th May
Central Pulse v Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel
TSB Bank Arena, Wellington. 2.00pm*

Sunday 31st May
Melbourne Vixens v Queensland Firebirds
Hisense Arena, Melbourne. 2.30pm

Monday 1st June
LG Mystics v Mercury Energy Tactix
The Trusts Stadium, Auckland. 7.00pm

Monday 1st June
West Coast Fever v Adelaide Thunderbirds
Challenge Stadium, Perth. 6.00pm

BYE:
NSW Swifts
Colourplus Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic

* Please note all times are local area times.


DOT POINTS FOR ROUND 9;



Central Pulse v Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel

  • The Pulse and Steel met in Round 1 of the 2009 ANZ Championship, with the Steel winning 55-46.
  • The Pulse are yet to win a game in 2009.
  • The Pulse’s closest game was in Round 5 against the LG Mystics, the game was drawn at full time. After extra time Pulse lost by one goal, 61-60.
  • In the eight rounds of the ANZ Championship 2009, the Steel have won four games. Their highest score to date is 61 goals against the Mystics in Round 6.
  • Daneka Wipiiti is the most accurate shooter for the Steel, sitting at an overall goal percentage of 81.1%.
  • Pulse shooters, Jamilah Gupwell, Paula Griffin and Te Amo Amaru-Tibble are all shooting over 70%, with Amaru-Tibble, who has played three games shooting at 82.6%.
  • Daneka Wipiiti sits second in offensive rebounds for the season
  • Paula Griffin is sitting fifth overall with the volume of shots this season.
  • Defensively Pulse goal keep Althea Byfield sits only behind Casey Williams in the deflection count and is fourth in the intercept count
  • Katrina Grant and Sheryl Scanlan for the Steel both feature in the top 10 for intercept’s but no Steel player features in the top ten deflections category
  • Pulse mid-courter Camilla Lees is fourth in pickups for the competition





Melbourne Vixens v Queensland Firebirds

· Vixens and Firebirds met in Round 2 this year in Brisbane with the Vixens victorious 54-51.
· The teams met twice in 2008 with the Vixens winning 62-52 in Round 2 and Firebirds winning 60-51 in Round 8.
· Vixens remain the only undefeated team and sit on top of the ANZ Championship ladder while the Firebirds are in fourth position.
· Firebirds goal shooter Romelda Aiken has the highest goal scoring average in the competition, scoring 43.3 goals per match.
· Caitlin Thwaites scored 43 goals in the Vixens victory over the NSW Swifts in extra time last round.
· Firebirds lost to the Thunderbirds by one goal after the final whistle in Adelaide last week.
· Firebirds wing attack Tamsin Greenway leads the competition in centre pass receives with 190.
· Firebirds goal keeper Laura Geitz is the highest placed Australian player both in penalties conceded (123) and intercepts (20).
· Last week Vixens shooters Sharelle McMahon shot at 88% accuracy and Caitlin Thwaites at 84%
· Bianca Chatfield took five intercepts against the Swifts, equal highest in the competition for the round.
· Firebirds shooters Romelda Aiken shot at 80% accuracy and Alissa Castrisos at 64% last round.
· Vixens shooter Ashlee Howard has been named in the 21/U Australian team for the World Youth Netball Championship.
· Romedla Aiken leads the competition in rebounds with 33, while Vixens defenders Julie Corletto and Bianca Chatfield are fourth and fifth with 27 and 26.





LG Northern Mystics v Mercury Energy Tactix

  • This is the first time in the 2009 championship that the Tactix and Mystics have met.
  • The teams met twice in 2008, in Rounds 1 and 9. The Tactix won the first match, 48-44. The Mystics won the Round 9 match, 50-46.
  • The Mystics are coming into this match after a bye last week.
  • Both teams have five losses and two wins to their names.
  • The Tactix have not won a game away from home.
  • The Mystics have only won one of their three home games.
  • Catherine Latu is the most accurate for the Mystics this season, she sits fourth on the table at 86.1%
  • The Mystics have had four shooters take the court this year and all are shooting above 70%
  • Jodi Brown is the most accurate for the Tactix this season so far, she sits fifth on the table.
  • Tactix Defender Sonia Mkoloma sits fifth overall for rebounds.
  • The Mystics do not feature in the top ten overall rebound stats.
  • Mystics mid-courter Temepara George is sitting third overall in goal assists.
  • Tactix mid-courter Maree Bowden sits sixth in goal assists.
  • Tactix defender Charlotte Kight is the youngest player who features in the top ten intercept count. She is tenth .




West Coast Fever v Adelaide Thunderbirds

· The West Coast Fever and Adelaide Thunderbirds have not met this year. They met twice in 2008 with the Thunderbirds victorious on both occasions winning 54-41 and 66-50.
· Therefore the Fever has never beaten the Thunderbirds.
· Fever sits sixth on the ladder while the Thunderbirds are third.
· The Fever have a 67% winning rate at home while the Thunderbirds have a 75% winning record away from home this year.
· The Thunderbirds defeated the Firebirds last week by one goal while Fever had the bye.
· Fever shooter Caitlin Bassett is the sixth most accurate shooter in the competition shooting at 84.2%.
· The most accurate Thunderbird shooter is Natalie Medhurst shooting at 81.5%.
· Caitlin Bassett has shot the second most goals in the competition, shooting 277 goals after eight rounds.
· Fever wing attack Madison Browne is third in centre pass receives in the competition with 142.
· Fever has four players announced in the Australian 21/U team for the World Youth Netball Championship; Shae Bolton, Caitlin Bassett, Madison Browne and Andrea Gilmore.
· Thunderbirds have won their last two games while Fever has lost their last two.
· Madison Browne is second in the competition for goal assists with 100.
· Kate Beveridge is leading the competition in turnovers with 38.


TEAMS WITH A BYE IN ROUND 9:


ROUND NINE PREVIEW;

When Queensland Firebirds coach Vicki Wilson delivers a message, her players listen hard. And the missive to her side before this weekend’s clash with ANZ Championship leaders Melbourne Vixens: “Tough it out”.

Wilson first gave the directive in the dressing room – “that was like a morgue” – after Firebirds’ spirit-breaking, last-second loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds last Sunday.

“We spoke about toughing it out. People had their hand up, acknowledging they made errors in that last minute. We were just soft at the end. In that last minute, we needed to keep taking the hard hits, but we finished the game early,” she says. “But lots of great things still came out of that game.”

Just as, Wilson believes, the Vixens’ extra-time victory over NSW Swifts has primed them for Sunday’s encounter in Melbourne.

“We’ve both had a really hard game coming into this one; we both suffered from a lot of turnovers. It just confirms to me that it will be a really good match.

“One of the great aspects of this competition is the quality of the games. The whole season for us has meant stepping up to the plate to put out a good performance every game.”

Former Australian shooter Wilson has been buoyed by the Firebirds’ incremental improvement with each match this season.

“I think our cutting through the midcourt has been one of our great improvements, and we’re starting to dictate the position of our opposition, herding them together more,” she says.

“Against the Thunderbirds we were preventing their rhythm - once we put the ball out, there wasn’t a Thunderbird in sight. Our movement across the transverse line was very good against them. The most hurtful thing was that we didn’t put a win on the board.”

The rise and rise of young defender Laura Geitz has also been a positive for the side.
“She’s so keen to learn, and we’re so proud she has come from regional Queensland, up through the age-group programmes. By the end of this competition, I’d like to see us get a look in the final, where she will be well and truly good,” Wilson says.

A victory over Vixens would no doubt help the fourth-placed Firebirds cement a finals berth, but Wilson is aware it won’t come dished up on a plate.

“The Vixens are just running riot – their form has been so good. Their timing right across the court, their disciplined defence - they’ve looked almost unstoppable,” she says.

“In our match-up with them in the second round, I thought we had them on toast. But we had a scoring opportunity, we weren’t decisive on the shot and passed it out again, and they got the ball and that’s how quickly things turned around on us.” Vixens won that match, 54-51.

“The worry for us is that at this rate, the Australian teams will wipe ourselves out of the top four. Our concern is that we’re belting each other each week and the upsets could allow two Kiwi teams into the finals. It could very easily happen.”

Two Kiwi teams are holding their own with six rounds to be played – Colourplus Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, who have a bye this round, are in second place, while Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel share the same points as Firebirds, but are fifth on goal differential. Steel meet bottom-of-the-table Central Pulse in Wellington on Saturday, and only time will tell if their captain, Adine Wilson, will be fit to take the court after pulling up lame with a bothersome calf injury against Magic in the last round.

This is the final round of all-Australia, all-New Zealand games. West Coast Fever return from a week’s rest to challenge Thunderbirds, who are well aware of Fevers’ ability to pull off an upset this season, especially in front of a fired-up Perth crowd.

LG Mystics and Mercury Energy Tactix will be fighting for pride in their first-time encounter in Auckland on Monday. The score between the two sides is 1-1 from last year’s clashes.

NSW Swifts have a fortnight to recover from their intense loss to Vixens before taking on Firebirds in Round 10.