KEY POINTS:
New South Wales Swifts coach Julie Fitzgerald has declared Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic the favourites for the new transtasman league, set to start early next month.
The Swifts were treated to their first glimpse of the Magic at full strength at an ANZ Championship pre-season tournament in Te
Awamutu at the weekend.
The result was conclusive, with the star-studded Magic line-up easily dispatching the highly rated Swifts 63-48.
Given the NSW side were missing two frontline players, including star midcourter Selina Gilsenan, it's hard to read too much into the Swifts' side of the ledger.
But what was apparent from the Magic's side, judging by their slick and clinical performance, is that they're one of the competition frontrunners.
"I think they're the favourites. They have five starting Silver Ferns in their line-up - if they're not the favourites, then I don't know who is," Fitzgerald said.
After experimenting with her line-up all weekend against the Canterbury Tactix, Central Pulse and an Australian Institute of Sport invitational team, Magic coach Noeline Taurua finally revealed her first-string side against the Swifts yesterday.
The Magic's core of top internationals - Irene van Dyk, Maria Tutaia, Laura Langman, Joline Henry and Casey Williams - received strong support from new recruit Jodie Tod and veteran midcourter Amigene Metcalfe, who has returned to netball after the birth of her second child.
Tod, who played for the Canterbury Flames in last year's National Bank Cup, was particularly impressive at wing defence, coming up with several superb intercepts.
But Taurua insists she has no set starting line-up, preferring to take a "different horses for different courses" approach.
"It's given me a clearer picture as to where individuals are and if they're real options or do we just need to keep growing them on the side."
After playing only 30-minute matches at a pre-season tournament in Sydney last weekend, teams played full-length games this weekend with the new injury-time rules and the longer 10-minute break at halftime implemented for the first time.
With more time between each half, it means players are having to warm up again and Fitzgerald said her Swifts tried out several different strategies.
"It is very different. You have a lot more time to talk to your players. It's a lot more composed in the change room. We used to rush off to the change room and rush back out again.
"And we fiddled around with different tactics for warming up just before we get back on the court."
The ANZ Championship season starts on April 5.
