Author: Tobey Keddy
Images: Graeme Laughton-Mutu + Adrian Watkins
There’s only one game left in the ANZ Premiership and it’s the most important one of all: the Grand Final.
The Central Pulse will host the defending champions, the Northern Mystics, at home in the TSB Arena in Wellington on Sunday 4 August.
After 15 rounds, the Central Pulse secured the Minor Premiership as well as the hosting rights for the Grand Final. Despite ups, downs and injuries galore, the Pulse finished the season with a whopping 12 wins and earned a break last week as they watched the Mainland Tactix take on the Northern Mystics in the elimination final. The Mystics emerged triumphant with a 68-64 win against the home side.
Despite the Pulse and Mystics suffering numerous injuries along the way, both teams have major talent that has all come together at the right time. There are six former and present Silver Ferns in each team, and both sides contain several future Fern prospects in them too.
The outcome of this game is entirely up for grabs, and with the title at stake, everything is on the line!
Previous Clashes
Round 4: Pulse by 5 – Northern Mystics 47 vs Pulse 52 at The Trusts Arena, Auckland
“The Mystics (without Grace) suffered a second consecutive loss, this time to the (undefeated) Pulse, despite having a lead of 12 earlier in the game. The Pulse took the win 52-47.” – NZ Netball Round Up # 2
Round 8: Pulse by 16 – Central Pulse 54 vs Northern Mystics 38 at Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua
“The Central Pulse rounded out a week of crushing defeats, beating the Mystics by 16 goals, 54-38. The Pulse were strong on defence once again, with their defence quartet securing ten intercepts. This game saw the return of Tiana Metuarau, who will now bolster the attacking stocks of the Pulse, making them look near unbeatable for rounds ahead.” – NZ Netball Round Up #3
Round 14: Mystics by 10 – Northern Mystics 68 vs Central Pulse 58 at Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland
“The Mystics ensured they remain in finals contention with a 68-58 win over the table-topping Pulse. The second quarter saw the Mystics leave the Pulse in the dust (22-13), a margin the Pulse were unable to overcome.” – NZ Netball Round Up # 4
Analysis of the Northern Mystics
The Mystics snuck past a fired-up Tactix team to win the elimination final 68-64. The Tactix played some of their best netball all year, so while disappointing not to get the win, they can still be very proud of a game well fought.
Offensively, the Mystics were strong enough to move past the Silver Fern combination of Jane Watson and Karin Burger. The attacking end was consistent, with Filda Vui running in at GA to move the defenders away from Nweke and Toeava. However, there were periods of play where the Tactix were able to read their offensive moves, and were only milliseconds and millimetres away from creating turnovers. If the Pulse defenders can read like Burger and Watson, we can expect the long limbs of Kelly Jackson and dynamic play of Paris Mason to get their hands to the ball.
While dominant in the volume of goals scored, Grace Nweke made more mistakes then we are used to seeing. She had her lowest accuracy performance for the season at 86% (60/70), made several ball-handling issues, and her connection with the feeders looked not on song. Do the Mystics need to change things up? Was the defensive pressure that good? Have teams finally figured out this attacking end? Time will tell.
Defensively, the weekend’s performance was the Mystics’ best this season. Phoenix Karaka was on fire with 5 intercepts, and was capably supported by rising-star Catherine Hall, who got 3 intercepts on Ellie Bird. The work of the defensive quarter will be instrumental to success against the Pulse and with the momentum they are rolling with, the Pulse will want to start strong.
Catherine Hall had a great cameo off the bench that paid off for the Mystics. Image – Graeme Laughton-Mutu
A huge strength of the Mystics is their self-belief. They know they can win, they’ve done it before and they’re good under pressure. Thanks to injury, every player has managed to secure crucial game time, so the Mystics have the ability to use their 10 players to their advantage. Overcoming this self-confidence will be crucial for the Pulse.
Analysis of the Central Pulse
Even in a year where the Pulse had their entire shooting trio plus a star midcourter injured, they have maintained their high standard for the duration of the season. With the return of a healthy Amelia Walmsley, Tiana Metuarau and Maddy Gordon, expect the Pulse to be hard to stop.
The major strength of the Pulse is that they are a team where any of their players could be starting for almost any franchise. Injury replacements Martina Salmon and former Silver Fern Claire Kersten have shined in 2024 and are most likely to start on the bench after signing on full time contracts.
Look for the experience of Claire Kersten to have impact in the Grand Final. Image – Adrian Watkins
The attacking end is humming along nicely. Walmsley’s hold is much stronger in this return, making it much harder for her defensive opponents to knock her off her game. The injection of speed and court craft from both Metuarau and Gordon have made it hard for strong defences to put much pressure on them.
A standout this season has been the work of Whitney Souness. She has shown great leadership with Kersten to steady the otherwise inexperienced attacking end. She leads the competition for centre pass receives, she’s 6th in assists and has 32 defensive pickups. As one of the league’s most consistent WA’s, in addition to guiding her team to a championship she will also be looking to cement her starting position for the Silver Ferns.
Defensively, the Pulse have been the best in the competition. Led by the world-class Kelly Jackson, the rise of Parris Mason, and consistently performing Fa’amu Ioane, the defensive end is constantly challenging opponents. Jackson leads the competition in defensive rebounds, deflections and intercepts while Mason is in the top ten for all three categories.
On paper, the Pulse are more than capable of winning this game. However, their last meet up against the Mystics proved unsuccessful as the team struggled to slow down the magical combination of Grace Nweke and Peta Toeava. The Pulse will need to come out of the gates firing and continue that pressure for a full 60 minutes – anything less won’t cut it.
Closing thoughts
This is anyone’s game and the result might come down to several key matchups. Kelly Jackson’s performance will be critical. While a full-strength Nweke is hard to combat, Jackson is in some of her best form (dare we say, ever!?) and she might have a shot at gaining the upper hand.
Once the ball is in Nweke’s hands, it’s basically a sunk shot, so the emphasis will be on doing work off the ball. The mid-court opponents of Tayla Earle and Maddy Gordon always present an interesting battle.
Whitney Souness will be crucial to the Pulse getting ball into the shooting circle. Image – Adrian Watkins
Both are fit, fast and absolute work-horses, and as Maddy returns to play it will be interesting to see how she measures up. Lastly, shutting down Toeava will be key. Long time rival and good friend Ioane might be one of the best placed players to do it, although match statistics from previous rounds indicate that the odds might be in Toeava’s favour.
If the Mystics play to their potential, they are always going to be hard to beat.
However if any team is equipped to put pressure on and shut down multiple areas of the court, it has to be the Pulse.
And we can never underestimate the presence of the Wellington crowd!
When: 4pm Sunday 4 August,
Where: TSB Arena Wellington
How to watch: Sky Sport or TVNZ + for those in Aotearoa/New Zealand, NetballPass.com for those overseas
