Netball: Faint Pulse return to familiar confusion

They may be a new-look side, but round one of the ANZ Championship followed an all-too-familiar script for the Central Pulse.

After making a couple of handy additions to their squad in the off-season, the Pulse fancied their chances of kicking off the season with a win against the Canterbury Tactix to prove they are a very different team to that which has gleaned just one win in two seasons of the transtasman league.

But despite the Tactix having lost a raft of experience from last season, they outwitted and outplayed the Wellingtonians in Christchurch.

The scoreline could have been more convincing had Tactix coach Helen Mahon-Stroud not cleared her bench midway through the final spell.

At that point the home side had a healthy 17-goal lead, built largely on the back of a dominant third-quarter performance.

But in a messy finish to the match, the Pulse managed to exploit the new combinations and rein in the deficit to a much more respectable six goals.

Tactix captain Maree Bowden said she was disappointed her side let such a big lead disintegrate.

"I would have liked to have won by 20 as opposed to six, we kind of let it go a little bit - but a win's a win, and it's great to get the competition started," she said.

The final seven minutes aside, the two teams' performances could not have been more contrasted.

The Tactix produced the same efficient, clinical netball that has long been associated with Canterbury netball, while the Pulse's game was marred by poor passing and basic, unforced errors.

The Pulse's muddled opening performance against a team many were picking as prime wooden spoon contenders has highlighted a number of areas of concern for their ever-positive coach Yvette McCausland-Durie.

Top of her list will be the bumbling attack end, which generally looked confused and lacked any structure.

Worryingly for the Pulse, new captain Jane Altschwager, a former Australian shooter, was at the centre of most of the confusion.

Her combination with Silver Ferns rookie Paula Griffin created a stagnant goal circle, and the Pulse attack end opened up greatly when Altschwager was benched during the third period.

The defence end also disappointed, with their star recruit, Silver Ferns defender Katrina Grant, struggling to have an impact early on in the match.

Grant also had a spell on the bench, but made a telling contribution when she was reintroduced later in the game.

Trailing 25-21 at halftime, the Pulse were still in the hunt heading into the second quarter, but they quickly unravelled in the third spell as the Tactix upped their defensive intensity.

Altschwager said her side failed to stick to the gameplan and became hesitant.

"I guess we fell down in our basic structures, we wanted to go in making sure we stuck to them the whole game and unfortunately I don't think we did that very well."