The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic failed to pull one last rabbit out of their hat against the Queensand Firebirds in Brisbane on last night, but that does not mean their season should be regarded as a failure.
Largely written off before the season began under new coach Julie Fitzgerald as a team intent on rebuilding, the Magic ambushed the competition with five straight wins and led the competition with seven victories from their first eight starts.
There is no shame in losing 50-54 away from home to the Firebirds, but if the coaching staff and players have any regrets about the match it will be that they had to get on a plane to play it.
A pair of loses to the otherwise inconsistent Central Pulse and an inexplicable five-goal loss to the Southern Steel in Invercagil will be what hurts most.
Those losses meant the team was always going to have to win over the ditch in successive weeks to advance in the playoffs, and that was always likely to prove a bridge too far.