Netball: National pride goes on the line

Temepara George and the Northern Mystics get to tackle a Firebirds side yet to win in three starts this campaign. Photo / Getty Images

If the opening rounds of the 2010 transtasman league have appeared a little dull to you, fear not, Rivalry Round is upon us again and will be sure to inject an extra spark into this weekend's competition.

It may be a franchise-based series, but with the New Zealand and Australian teams pitting themselves against each other week-in, week-out, national pride has come to the fore in the ANZ Championship.

To further fuel that transtasman rivalry, league organisers developed the concept of Rivalry Round, with this weekend's five matches all seeing New Zealand teams square off against Aussies.

The concept is simple, if perhaps a little flawed. For one round, the total number of goals scored by all five Australian teams and all five New Zealand teams is added up, and the country with the highest cumulative round score wins the trophy.

Last year New Zealand teams won three of the five match-ups, but Australia walked away with the trophy after racking up the highest number of goals, thanks in large part to the Melbourne Vixens' 28-goal drubbing of the Canterbury Tactix in the final game of the round.

This year will feature the return fixtures of the same match-ups from the 2009 Rivalry Round. That means three games will be played across the Tasman, and given New Zealand's woeful record over there (must we repeat it? Just one win from 28 matches on Australian soil) it looks like the trophy will remain in Australian hands.

Although with three New Zealand teams in the top five after three rounds, and traditional powerhouses the Thunderbirds and Firebirds struggling to find their form, there may be a few surprise results yet.

The Rivalry Round gives us a great chance to look at where all the teams are at.

Waikato/ Bay of Plenty Magic v West Coast Fever

* Tomorrow, 2:20pm, Hamilton

* Prediction: Magic to cast a spell over their opposition ... get it!? What? That one has been used before, you say? Several times? Oh.

The Magic looked to start the 2010 season where they left off last year: confused and disjointed. But, over the past couple of weeks, they have shown glimpses of what they are capable of. In particular, last week's win over the Northern Mystics was a clinical display of no-fuss netball and proved the Magic are still the strongest team on this side of the Tasman.

The addition of Australian international Peta Scholz has given the Magic a hard-nosed edge in their midcourt defence, while Silver Fern Jodi Brown has added creativity to their shooting circle.

The Magic should have too much experience across the court for Fever. But that is not to say the Perth-based team won't give the Magic a good run. The plucky young Fever team were the giant-killers last season and back themselves to be in the hunt for a play-off spot come the end of the season.

But the Fever's claims to be top-four material would be more convincing if their celebrations weren't so over-the-top on the one occasion when they won.

NSW Swifts v Central Pulse

* Tomorrow, 4:20pm, Sydney

* Prediction: Swifts to saunter in with a win.

The Pulse will look back fondly on this fixture last season.

Their sole win in two and a bit years of the competition came against the Swifts in the rivalry round.

But their chances of repeating those heroics appear very, very remote. Despite adding a good smattering of experience this year, the Pulse have looked every bit as ordinary, if not worse, than in the past two seasons.

The Swifts, meanwhile, have put their dreadful 2009 season behind them. In winning their opening three match-ups this year, the NSW outfit have already racked up more wins than they did all of last season.

But they weren't at all convincing last week when they were pushed in to over-time by a young Tactix side, which suggests Swifts still have a few kinks to iron out before they can be considered a live chance to claim their second ANZ Championship title.

Canterbury Tactix v Melbourne Vixens

* Monday 7:20pm, Melbourne

* Prediction: Vixens to make it four from four.

After losing a raft of experience in the off-season, the Tactix were tipped to be serious wooden-spoon contenders in 2010. But the Canterbury side, to their credit, haven't been as bad as most were predicting.

Putting aside their 18-goal loss to the Fever in round two, the Tactix have played with a lot of confidence, with their innovative young attack end a particular highlight.

While they have looked much more assured at home, as was evident last week when they gave the table-topping Swifts an almighty fright, the Vixens are too professional an outfit to slip up against a lowly Kiwi team. The defending champs have been in ominous form early on this year and should get the business done in Christchurch.

Queensland Firebirds v Northern Mystics

* Monday, 9.05pm, Brisbane

* Prediction: If Aiken can get her groove back, the Firebirds are a good chance of finally getting on the board in 2010.

Crikey! The Firebirds without a win after three rounds? Not many would have seen that coming.

The form team of the preseason have been the biggest disappointments of the regular season.

Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke blamed the "constant barrage" of overly physical tactics on Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken for her side's winless start. What a way to paint a target on her back ...

Aiken is unlikely to get much sympathy from Mystics defender Althea Byfield, who will relish the chance of getting one up on her Jamaican team mate.

After showing some promising early-season form, the Mystics side hit a speedbump last week, producing an error-ridden performance against the Magic.

Still, they've done enough to show they have the makings of a top-four side.

But while the Mystics are probably the better team on paper, it's still hard to bet against the house in these transtasman match-ups.

Adelaide Thunderbirds v Southern Steel

* Sunday 4:50pm, Adelaide

* Prediction: Another ugly win to the Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds have been the revelation of the 2010 competition - no one expected last year's beaten grand finalists to be quite so awful in the opening rounds. Their one win this season has been in the form of a very patchy one-goal win over an equally as poor Firebirds last week.

Their attack end has been the biggest area of concern as they try to adjust their gameplan to suit their new-look shooting end. The inclusion of 1.93m Jamaican shooter Carla Borrego has forced Australian star Kate Beveridge, who also stands at 1.93m, out to the goal attack. This "twin towers" gameplan has turned the usually slick, well-oiled Thunderbirds attack end in to a stuttering machine.

The Steel have been plodding along under the radar, notching up a couple of solid wins without really setting the competition alight. Arguably their best game so far has been their only loss. For three and a half quarters the Steel looked the better side against the Magic in their round two match-up. But Steel lost their nerve late in the game as the defensive pressure got them.

With the Thunderbirds boasting one of the strongest defensive line-ups in the competition in Geva Mentor and Mo'onia Gerrard, I'm picking the same will happen again on Sunday.