Netball: We need another kind of Magic

And so we've reached the halfway stage of the 2010 ANZ Championship season. The overwhelming impression from the opening seven rounds is just how many teams have struggled with consistency.

This is nothing new for the New Zealand sides - one of the major criticisms over the first couple of seasons has been over the inability of the Kiwi teams to perform week-in, week-out.

But this year even the Australian teams have looked patchy.

While they seem to have their act together now, the Queensland Firebirds and Adelaide Thunderbirds looked downright awful at the beginning of the season.

The much-vaunted Melbourne Vixens side were impressive in the opening weeks but have lost their way a wee bit, with two heavy losses in the past couple of weeks.

Even the unbeaten NSW Swifts have had a couple of near-misses. Interestingly, their worst performances this season have been against the two weakest New Zealand sides - the Canterbury Tactix and Central Pulse.

In the case of many of the New Zealand sides and certainly the Firebirds and Thunderbirds, the failure to fire early on was the result of their struggles to bed down new combinations after a shorter lead-in time to the season.

We've also seen just how much of a difference one player can make to a team's fortunes. The Vixens' slump coincided with an injury to star midcourter Natasha Chokjlat, who is unlikely to be back for the defending champions until after their bye in round 10.

Disappointingly it has been the Australian sides that have been able to adjust to these disruptions more effectively than their New Zealand counterparts.

The top four Australian teams (Swifts, Vixens, Thunderbirds and Firebirds) are all regarded as strong chances to claim the 2010 title, while the only New Zealand side realistically in the running is the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic.

Given their play-offs record, and the fact they don't enjoy the same intense competition week-in, week-out on this side of the Tasman, you'd have to say the Magic are a long-shot of claiming the premiership.

But rightly or wrongly, with the help of the one-and-a-half round draw, there is still a chance of a second New Zealand side making the playoffs.

The Southern Steel and Northern Mystics are still in the running to make the top four, but neither side can really afford to drop more than one game. Since they still have to play each other twice, there is just as much chance of the two cancelling one another out.

With such an impressive line-up, the Mystics should really be better placed at this stage of the season and their poor form has been one of the big disappointments this season.

But it is the lowly Central Pulse that have provided the most hand-wringing this year. Despite recruiting a much more experienced line-up than previous seasons, the Wellington-based side are playing worse than ever.

They hit rock-bottom in round six when they suffered a 24-goal loss to the Steel - a team they have traditionally been able to challenge.

The old depth argument has been raised, with some suggesting the Pulse should be dropped from the competition.

Considering some of the names in the Pulse side, there is no reason why they should be getting hammered by such huge margins every week.

The problem extends beyond a simple lack of talent.

Another intriguing thread running through the competition is the race for Commonwealth Games selection.

The battle is heating up. The team named for the August-September internationals will, barring injuries, be the team that will try to defend the gold medal in India during October.

The return of a couple of veterans doesn't leave a lot of room for any bolters in the Silver Ferns squad, but it will certainly create some interesting dilemmas for the selectors.

With Magic shooter Jodi Brown looking to reclaim her place in the Ferns, the pressure goes on youngsters Paula Griffin and Anna Thompson.

And if Brown does get the nod for Delhi, who do the selectors leave out - Griffin, in whom the New Zealand coaches have invested a lot of time for development, but has had a lacklustre start to the season, or Thompson, who has stepped up admirably this season in an inexperienced Tactix side?

Leana de Bruin's stunning return to form following the birth of her first child means there are also some tough decisions to be made in defence - although, with a couple of injuries, those decisions may be made for them.

Veteran defender Sheryl Scanlan will almost certainly be out of the mix, having played just one quarter this season as she battles calf problems, while a foot injury has kept the Pulse's Katrina Grant out of action since round four. After Grant's stand-out international season in 2009, will the selectors pick on past reputation?

A lot of questions remain to be answered over the second half of the transtasman competition.