Serina Daunakamakama of the Southern Steel in April. Photo: Joe Allison / MB Photo There is a lot on the line for the Southern Steel. Redemption, a shot at hosting the elimination final — or possibly the grand final if the Northern Mystics slip up — and a chance to reward their loyal fans who sold out Stadium Southland five days in advance. The second-place Steel meet the Mainland Tactix in front of 3130 fans in the final round-robin game in Invercargill tomorrow, where they will be aiming for victory to lock in a home elimination final. But if the Mystics, who sit top of the table, lose to the Waikato-Bay of Plenty this afternoon, there is a chance either the Steel or Tactix could host the grand final. ‘‘It’s really cool to be rewarded to play in front of a sold-out crowd,’’ coach Wendy Frew said. ‘‘Looking at what’s in front of us, and potentially we could be playing for a home win, so there’s a lot on the line for this game. ‘‘We’re really excited about the challenge and just can’t wait to get stuck in.’’ Tomorrow’s game has been circled in the calendar since the Steel lost 55-42 to the Tactix in the opening game of the season, a blip in an otherwise strong season for the Steel. Frew has trawled through video footage of that game recently and recognised the growth in her team since the April fixture. ‘‘The first game of the season definitely would’ve been our worst of the season. ‘‘It’s funny — you go into having a preseason, you work hard, you feel like you’re tracking pretty well and then as a team we put in a performance that we weren’t proud of. ‘‘I’ve watched a little bit of the huddle clips from the game and we’re a completely different side from where we were then. ‘‘After that first round we really had a good look at ourselves and we came out a lot more positive in terms of our performance.’’ The Steel head into the game off a 71-59 victory against the Northern Stars — the highest score in the ANZ Premiership this season — while the Tactix had an extra-time 53-51 loss to the Mystics last week. Frew felt her side played some great netball against the Stars, where they trialled three different centres to replace sidelined captain Kimiora Poi ahead of the playoffs, and needed to use that edge against the Tactix. ‘‘I just think we need to go into the game having confidence. ‘‘We’ve had some pretty good form this season. We can’t dwell on game one ... we know we can do better. ‘‘It’s just about making sure each game we’ve been trying to build on our last performance and we put a reasonably solid performance against the Stars.’’ The Tactix sit third on the table, one spot behind the Steel, and have had consecutive losses to the Pulse and Mystics. Skylah Tainui-Takerei, who is a Central Pulse training partner, debuted for the Steel last week and has been training with the Steel this week. Australian Jessie Laga’aia is back in Australia due to work and Queensland Firebirds commitments but the Steel were ‘‘working through’’ her availability, Frew said. The Stars play the Pulse this afternoon, followed by the Mystics hosting the Magic. kayla.hodge@odt.co.nz ANZ Premiership Invercargill, tomorrow, 4pm Southern Steel: Aliyah Dunn, Georgia Heffernan, Josie Bingham, Serina Daunakamakama, Ashleigh Poi, Skylah Tainui-Takerei, Renee Savai’inaea, Carys Stythe, Khanye’-Lii Munro-Nonoa, Jess Milne. Mainland Tactix: Charlie Bell, Hannah Glen, Amorangi Malesala, Gina Crampton, Holly Mather, Parris Petera, Fa’amu Muliaga, Tatiana Day, Josie Seymour, Laura Balmer, Ash Barnett.
