Netball: Mental Magic the key against Vixens

Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald. Photo / Getty Images

Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald believes the poor strike rate of the Kiwi teams across the Tasman over the first six seasons of the ANZ Championship is a mental failing.

Fitzgerald, the former NSW Swifts mentor and Australian Diamonds assistant who took over the reins of the Magic this season, has been working hard on breaking down those mental barriers in her side as they prepare to take on the Vixens in Melbourne tomorrow.

The Magic have traditionally fared a lot better on Australian soil than other New Zealand sides, collecting a handful of wins over the years, but their track record is still sketchy.

Fitzgerald puts the key to improving this statistic down to attitude and how they approach the challenge.

"I'm beginning to wonder if some of it is just the mental side, that they [New Zealand] teams go in with a little bit of a defeatist attitude to it all," she said.

"I think the competition has now reached the stage where it's another game on another court and it shouldn't have the impact in Australia that it seems to have."

So far the Waikato-Bay of Plenty side, who were expected to lack the same edge this year after losing the core of their roster from 2012, have stood up to every challenge thrown at them. In round one they showed an ability to be ruthless in their 24-goal rout of the Tactix.

The following week they stepped up the intensity to overcome a star-studded, but struggling, Mystics side. And last week they proved they have the character to dig themselves out of a hole, overcoming a five-goal halftime deficit to edge out the always dangerous Southern Steel.

How their attacking gameplan holds up under the tight one-on-one defensive style of the Australian teams is now the last remaining question mark hovering over the revamped Waikato-Bay of Plenty side.

Making the team's job more challenging will be the Vixens' last minute one-goal loss to the Firebirds in their latest outing, a galling blow from a match they had mostly dominated.

"I'm really looking forward to see how we do measure up against an Australian team in Australia," Fitzgerald said.

"I'm well aware of the fact that the Vixens will be desperate to not lose two at home. I can't remember the last time the Vixens have lost consecutive games on their home court, so they'll be a very, very hungry team."

The other big transtasman clash of the round will see the winless Mystics take on the defending champions Adelaide Thunderbirds in Auckland on Monday night. Last week Jane Woodlands-Thompson's side extended their unbeaten run in the league out to a record 16 games - a daunting record the Mystics will need to snap or their play-off hopes could be over by mid-season. The Steel kick off the round today when they take on the West Coast Fever in Dunedin.