Loss to Pulse ‘lesson’ for Steel

Reinga Bloxham.
Reinga Bloxham
Losses have been a rarity in recent years, but the Southern Steel was given "a lesson" on Saturday.

It also won games on the days either side of that, in its pre-season tournament on Saturday. But it was the 64-40 beating from the Central Pulse that will provide motivation going into the ANZ Premiership season.

Coach Reinga Bloxham called the match "a bit of a lesson", although she was happy the team responded with a 66-53 win against the Northern Stars yesterday.

That followed Friday’s 53-44 win over the Northern Mystics.

The second quarter was key in the loss to the Pulse.

After trailing 16-9 at the end of the first quarter, the Steel managed just five goals in the second, while the Pulse piled on 20.

Bloxham said the Pulse did a good job of disrupting the Steel’s timing, causing it to lose the confidence to let the ball go.

It often struggled to get the ball to the shooters, or even to the circle edge.

The Pulse had performed well though, being clinical and unsettling the Steel with its  physicality.It came out with a changed line-up in the third quarter and the margin increased by just one, to 53-30.

The fourth quarter was also more competitive, the Pulse again extending its lead by only one goal.

A better performance saw the Steel down the Stars 66-53, its ball placement and timing much better.

It shot out to a 21-10 lead at the first break and extended that to 38-23 at halftime.

The Stars fought back to narrow it to 50-40 at three-quarter time, but the Steel got back momentum to win the final quarter.

Bloxham said the tournament had been useful, providing the team with several work-ons.

"We thought we’d prepared well, but we now know we need to go back and make sure we nail those structures a little bit better and especially under pressure, I suppose," she said.

"[We need to make] sure we can execute under pressure and under the physicalness of a game."

Despite that Bloxham was happy with the weekend, in particular being pleased with getting her younger players a taste of a higher level.

"I think the great thing for everyone was that we were able to expose a group of young players to that next level of netball.

"A lot of them put their hand up and gave it a really good crack," she said.

"I’m happy with being able to use different combinations and coming away injury-free is probably the best thing overall."

Of the other teams, the Pulse had been impressive, and she also felt the Mainland Tactix did well.

However, it was worth remembering no team had its full-strength squad.

The Steel will get back into training this week. Silver Ferns Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Shannon Francois link with the side next week.

Its first game is on May 6, against the Northern Mystics, before backing up the next day against the Central Pulse.

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