Break chance for Steel to freshen up

Reinga Bloxham.
Reinga Bloxham.
A well-earned break awaits the Southern Steel.

After recording a ninth consecutive win, against the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic on Sunday, it now has nine days off.

The team next plays the Central Pulse tomorrow week in Porirua, giving it a chance to rejuvenate after playing six games in the past four weeks.

''It's quite timely for us,'' coach Reinga Bloxham said of the break.

''I think we need to freshen up a little bit.

''It's still really important that we do as much as we can to keep them still ticking over, but not too much to absolutely exhaust them.

''So it's trying to find that balance.

''It can be a little bit disruptive for teams, especially if you find you're building and growing each week and then you have this week off when you've got nothing.

''So I'm hoping we can pull out of it OK.

''I think body-wise and mentally we're ready for a little refresher.''

The team would return to training as normal, although it would have two days off this week rather than one.

That will help it re-energise as it enters the final stretch of six games before the playoffs.

Bloxham is hoping the team can regain the momentum it had at the start of the season and is aiming for a full 60-minute consistent performance.

That will be important, particularly after having to overcome its toughest challenge yet in its 65-61 win on Sunday.

''It was a tough game; it was very tough,'' she said.

''We sort of thought that it would be [and we're] happy to come away with the win in the end.

''[We] would've been happier if we hadn't have given them the bonus point.''

She said it was a better performance than last week's win over the Mainland Tactix, although it could improve on its error rate.

''I think we weren't as consistent as we'd hoped to be.

''At times we had really good flow, and then at other times not so much .

''So I think that consistency was lacking.

''But [it was] definitely a better performance than we had last week and a step up for us, but something we'll look to improve on.

''Our error rate wasn't that great, it was, in our terms, quite high.

''We'd love to get that down as low as possible.

''Those little errors that creep into the game are created by pressure.

''But we have to be better than that and absorb that and then try and push on and strive for that consistency.''

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