Season on the line for Kia Magic
Press Release June 5, 2014
Well beaten by the same opponents two weeks ago, Kia Magic are undaunted by the prospect of a rematch with the NSW Swifts in Sunday’s sudden-death ANZ Championship netball Minor Semi-Final.
A flurry of upset results in the final round of the regular season last week had a telling impact for the Swifts, in particular, and Magic, on the top-four order, leaving the pair to contest the entrée to the Finals Series in Sydney.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, both teams coming into the match off losses with Swifts dipping out on the Minor Premiership and Magic on second place which would have afforded each a double life. The moment of truth has now arrived and the two instead find themselves in a winner-takes-all contest.
``We love playing in front of a home crowd but we don’t really mind being on the road either,’’ Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald said. ``Both scenarios offer different advantages, so we’re not too fussed that we have to play on the road.
``And I think the girls are quite keen to have another crack at the Swifts.’’
A 12-goal loss to the Swifts two weeks ago followed by a desperate four-goal deficit to the Queensland Firebirds in their most recent outing could hardly be termed vintage results for Magic.
But for Fitzgerald there were plenty of encouraging signs to come out of the match against the in-form Queenslanders. Magic showed plenty of ticker in an evenly-fought contest and a definite improvement on recent weeks.
``I’m still disappointed at some of the turnovers that we made under pressure but I do think it was some of the best netball that we’ve played and we showed a lot of growth in that game,’’ she said.
Fitzgerald has no doubts about Magic’s ability to compete on even terms with any team but is mindful of the lapses that have plagued her team’s performance in the latter half of the season.
``We’ve shown that we’re capable of running with these teams but we’ve always had these blowouts for two or three minutes where we’ve let teams get a lead that we haven’t been able to pull back, so I think it’s a little bit of inexperience at being able to sustain the effort under such pressure,’’ she said.
``We showed improvement in those areas against Firebirds and I’m confident we can right the ship.
``We’ve proven we’ve got the game plan, we’ve got the ability so we have to imagine it’s the lack of concentration that lets us down at times.’’
Getting away to a good start while absorbing and exerting pressure at the same time are key components for Magic, irrespective of their opposition. They have struggled at times against teams from both sides of the Tasman this year but are comfortable matching up against anyone.
``I don’t find there’s a big difference between Australian and New Zealand teams for us,’’ Fitzgerald said. ``We don’t find it as daunting to be playing an Australian team as with most New Zealand teams. I don’t think it’s such an issue for us.
``We have respect for the opposition but it’s not because they’re Australians.’’
Jane Hunt
Kia Magic media liaison
Ph: 021-107-0287
