Transferring their home form to Perth is the key focus for Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic ahead of their netball league match against West Coast Fever on Monday.
After hitting their most consistent form of the season with a sparkling 12-goal win over Melbourne Vixens in the latest round to leave them
second on the standings, Magic head offshore for the first time this campaign.
"We want to maintain the levels we hit against Vixens while also being aware that for our next game the conditions and other factors are totally different," Magic coach Noeline Taurua said yesterday.
"That moment [Vixens] happened last Monday and has now gone. So, even if we adopt the same gameplan, we have to make sure we're playing it in the moment ... we certainly cannot expect to just roll on in and have the same things happen."
Perth has special memories for the visitors after the Magic became the first New Zealand team to win on Australian soil in 2009, the second year of the transtasman competition, and they have never lost to the Fever.
There has only been one other New Zealand success, also by the Magic, against NSW Swifts in last year's play-offs.
But Taurua is taking nothing for granted, citing the "killer flight", time zone, extreme recent heat, Australian umpires and unusual game time (5.10pm local time) for making this match an entirely different proposition to playing the Vixens in Hamilton.
"They probably haven't performed to their best this season," she said. "Their midcourt is still finding its feet with new combinations, but they are a very tenacious team."
The Fever are the second of four consecutive games against Australian sides for the Magic and Taurua is satisfied with her team's improved momentum and particularly the input of her young talent, Julianna Naoupu, Jess Tuki and Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick.
"We took a big step up against Mystics [March 13], but against Vixens we were more consistent, the focus and commitment was more evident and that was really pleasing," she said.
