Oh so close on what has been a cracking elimination final decider yesterday afternoon between the Mainland Tactix & Northern Mystics at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch. There can only be one winner who will go on to meet the Minor Premiers Central Pulse for next Sunday’s Final at TSB Arena in Wellington while the losing side will have to bow out outside the Top 2. In the end, it was the defending champs Mystics who got away over the Tactix with the four-goal win 64-68.
Now it’s going to be a brilliant finish to the 2024 ANZ Premiership season with one match to go before we look at the Silver Ferns International season starting with England at home (3 x game series) in September.
How good was Katie Te Ao off the bench when she came on to turn the Elimination Final around that puts the Mystics into the Grand Final once again, especially in the last few minutes in the middle of the park for Tayla Earle. She’s really quick alongside her decent height and can also drop down a bit at wing defense too but what’s really good about Te Ao is the way she bridged these ball through the attacking third that gave Grace Nweke (goal shooter) & Filda Vui (goal attack) the run of her money. Keep an eye for her going into next week’s Final whether it’s in the starting seven or as an impact sub.
Then we’ve got the experienced Mystics defender Phoenix Karaka who worked so hard to stop the Tactix from conceding goals whether if she’s at goal keeper or goal defender. Although she was much better though at goal defender where not only she worked well alongside her team-mate Catherine Hall, Karaka also got the best out of her defensive abilities including five intercepts every time the Tactix unable to find their own like Ellie Bird to shoot through the circle. The work isn’t done yet as Karaka hopes to bring home another Grand Final win for the Mystics despite finishing 3rd in the regular season.
And great to see Ellie Bird given the nod as goal shooter after being frozen out during the last regular season game v Pulse. She too knows how to get going thanks to her experience and tall physical frame that puts the Tactix on the front foot. It’s a shame that a couple of attacking handling errors & incomplete passes unfortunately gave the ball away, especially in the last few minutes before it was too little, too late. Bird came out of retirement this season, so interesting to see if she will stick around or just help out soon enough.
It’s been a good season though for the most part by the Tactix thanks to their experienced defense as wish Marianne Delaney-Hoshek the best of luck with a new coach set to take over going into the 2025 season.