Netball: Learning from the Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds' Emily Beaton. Photo / Getty Images

They were the pacesetters of the transtasman league. Untouchable during the regular season, the NSW Swifts were expected to waltz their way to the 2010 title.

Even Australian coach Norma Plummer claimed no team would come close to the Swifts in the finals series.

But the Adelaide Thunderbirds' thorough dismantling of the Swifts in the major semifinal has changed the complexion of the ANZ Championship play-offs dramatically.

After such a limp performance, many are hastily reassessing the Swifts' title chances.

The NSW side will meet a Magic team that is beginning to come into some rich form in this weekend's preliminary final in Newcastle.

The Thunderbirds exposed a number of weaknesses in the Swifts' game and in doing so created a blueprint for the Magic to follow.

While the Waikato/Bay of Plenty side play a very different style to the Thunderbirds, there are a number of lessons they can take from the Adelaide side's dismantling of the Swifts and apply it to their own game.

Start strongly

Having breezed into the play-offs on the back of a string of convincing wins, it had been a long time since the Swifts had been under pressure. So when the Thunderbirds exploded out of the blocks and took a solid early lead, the minor premiers were shell-shocked.

Swifts defender Rebecca Bulley admits her side didn't cope well when the heat went on.

"Throughout the season, besides some really close games at the beginning of the season, towards the end we were winning quite comfortably so, we hadn't been in that situation in a while," she said.

After last week's confidence-sapping loss, if the Magic can get on top of the Swifts early on, it will be a huge psychological blow for the home side.

Physical pressure

The typically niggly Thunderbirds side ramped up the pressure on the Swifts last weekend - employing in-your-face defence right through the court.

NSW coach Julie Fitzgerald said her side got rattled by the Thunderbirds' tight one-on-one marking and relentless hands-over pressure.

"As soon as we were under pressure we started to hang on to the ball and were very hesitant - we definitely didn't play the free-flowing netball that has been a feature of our play this year," said Fitzgerald.

The Swifts defenders often struggled to get the ball out of their own third, which slowed their progress right through the court, forcing the midcourt to work even harder.

This is where youngster Courtney Tairi was exposed. Tairi is still new to the starting line-up after regular wing-attack Vanessa Ware suffered a season-ending knee injury just weeks out from the play-offs.

Tairi is more of a natural centre and is still developing her game at wing attack. Unlike Ware, who provided short, sharp movements, Tairi tends to offer longer leads, which forces star centre Kim Green to work overtime or brings the shooters in to play earlier, if that one movement does not come off.

If the Magic are relentless with their through-court pressure, cracks will appear.

Get inside shooters' heads

Thunderbirds defenders Geva Mentor and Mo'onia Gerrard were a menacing presence in the shooting circle and the accuracy of Catherine Cox and Susan Pratley fell away under the onslaught.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua believes when Cox is "on fire" there's no stopping her, so the visitors can't allow the Australian goal-shoot to slot into a comfortable rhythm.

The Magic may not have to do a lot to "soften" Cox up after the 34-year-old Australian goal shoot broke her nose in a collision with Mentor's shoulder in Sunday's 52-38 loss to Thunderbirds.

While Cox played on with the injury for a further two quarters before being replaced during the third quarter, the incident clearly left her shaken. The Australian international put up a paltry 15 shots at goal, with just nine of those successful.

The courageous captain plans to take the court on Sunday, insisting the injury won't affect her game or make her tentative. But is she really going to be comfortable going up and competing strongly for the rebound with Casey Williams' sharp elbows flying around?

Maximum intensity

Despite securing a handy lead by halftime in the weekend's win over the Swifts, the Thunderbirds never let up, maintaining their intensity for the full 60 minutes.

The Magic must bring that same sort of energy to the court on Sunday.

For the past couple of weeks the Waikato side have spoken of their intentions of leaving it all out on the court, knowing it could be their last game.

They must up the ante even further - contest every pass, chase down loose balls hard, back one another up, always have two or more options to the ball and, most importantly, keep it up for the full four quarters.

Magic defender Jodi Tod said her side are ready to throw everything they've got at the Swifts.

"I think it's at the stage where you're just amping for the next training. Sometimes in a long season, you're just like 'right, here we go again', but where we're at now, because we're on such a high coming off our last couple of games, we're like 'bring on the next one'.

"So there is a definite step up for finals time."