Netball: How the Mystics can beat Queensland

Laura Geitz of the Firebirds defends against Maria Tutaia of the Mystics during the round seven ANZ Championship match. Photo / Getty Images

They are unbeaten all season, boast the best attacking and best defensive record in the competition and have never lost to the Northern Mystics in four seasons.

Seemingly nothing can halt the Queensland Firebirds from speeding to the 2011 transtasman league title in Brisbane this weekend.

But the Northern Mystics beg to differ.

"Beating the Firebirds will be tough, but it's definitely achievable," insists Mystics coach Debbie Fuller.

The Mystics have spent a lot of time this week examining footage from the Firebirds' games this season and in particular looking at patches of play when they were put under pressure by their opposition.

While the Firebirds wiped the floor with the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in their major semifinal clash two weeks ago, Fuller believes even that match revealed clues on how to unsettle the Queensland side and felt the tape was worth reviewing.

"What we want to look at in that game is the first quarter where the Magic put [the Firebirds] under pressure," said Fuller.

"I want to ask my players questions about how [the Magic] kept Romelda away from the post, why she missed her first four goals and just look at components of their game that we can expose."

Here's what the Mystics will need to do topple the Firebirds:

Stop Romelda Aiken ...

We'll start with the big one - all 1.96m of her. Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken is undoubtedly the Firebirds' key scoring weapon. With Aiken enjoying a huge height advantage in the shooting circle, it is almost impossible to stop the high ball into her.

The key to limiting Aiken's effectiveness therefore is starving her of possession by stopping the ball from getting into the circle.

That will require a committed full court defensive effort from the Mystics to slow the Firebirds' progress through court and allow the circle defenders time to set up. The likes of Joline Henry and Temepara George in the midcourt also need to keep the Firebirds' feeders off the circle edge and restrict their vision into the circle by applying strong hands-over pressure so they are delivering stressed ball into their shooters.

As Mystics defender Anna Scarlett discovered the last time she matched up on the Jamaican back in round seven, taking on Aiken is as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

She was clearly frustrated in that game by the ease with which the ball was being fired into the circle and lost her focus.

But Scarlett can't allow herself to get frustrated or downbeat on Sunday.

You have to accept that nine times out of 10 you're not going to be able to get the ball off Aiken. But it is that one occasion, when a misdirected pass is fired in, or Aiken isn't as strong on the take, that could make all the difference.

Oh, and don't forget Natalie Medhurst

Shutting down the Firebirds' shooting attack might be a little easier if the opposition could just solely focus on Aiken.

But the Firebirds' strength throughout their campaign has been that they have two big scoring threats.

In Aiken they have a tall shooter at the back who can post up, but if she is double-teamed, then goal attack Natalie Medhurst is left with space to roam and she can be just as damaging.

Scarlett said her defensive partner Kayla Cullen would need to play tight on Medhurst to restrict her space on court.

"We can't afford to give Medhurst too much room to move. She has that ability to just step up and dominate so we have to get in her face as well and frustrate her."

The Geitz-factor

The Mystics will also need to eliminate the impact of star defender Laura Geitz on Sunday and ensure they don't allow her to dominate.

Geitz will pounce on opposition error and once she gets a head of steam up she seems to possess the ability to turn the ball over at will.

Fuller said her attack end needed to use ballspeed and smarts to beat Geitz.

"[Geitz] front marks very well and she is aggressive on to the ball. So the key will be getting her moving and second guessing where she's going," said Fuller.

"If we can get the ball speed moving fast and play the angles then we can beat any defensive line."

Limit the turnovers

The Firebirds thrive on opposition turnovers. They have one of the best turnover-to-score rates in the league.

The Mystics have the highest turnover count in the league, averaging 21.4 turnovers during the regular season.

Fortunately, in the past two games they have managed to cut their tally back to 12 (against the Swifts) and 14 (against the Magic). They must get this rate down even further against the Firebirds this weekend or they will be punished. Severely.

Play to their own strengths

The Firebirds are renowned as a gritty and determined defensive side, with the ability to frustrate a side with their relentless one-on-one defence.

It isn't flashy, but it is effective.

However Mystics coach Debbie Fuller said her side could not afford to get caught in the trap of trying to emulate the Queenslanders' tight man-on style.

"If New Zealanders run after Australians all day we'll get outrun. So we have to be smarter in the way we play. We have to come off the player and play the space and then be able to pressure them with a tight defensive mark as well, so we have to be able to mix up our strategies."

And if all these factors fail to convince you, among the weight of statistics, history and form that point firmly to the Firebirds becoming the fourth Australian team to claim the transtasman crown, there may just be a small piece of sporting symmetry developing in the Mystics' favour.

The Mystics lost to the Swifts in the regular season and went on to beat them at home in the minor semifinal. They had never previously beaten the Swifts.

The Mystics also lost to the Magic at home and went on to beat the Waikato side (twice) on their turf, including last week's preliminary final. They had never previously beaten the Magic before this season.

The Mystics lost to the Firebirds at home in their round nine clash, they will now face the Queensland side on their home turf in Sunday's grand final. They have never beaten the Firebirds.

But they can.

Firebirds V Mystics
Sunday 4.30pm - GoldCoast
SkySport 1