Netball: Northern trio top title tips

By JULIE ASH

Netball North, Auckland Waitakere and Waikato will go into the week-long national provincial championship tournament as the fancied trio after finishing top of their pools in the preliminary games.

Joining them in the top six are defending champions Canterbury, Otago and Wellington.

The six will play off for the national title at the tournament, which starts in Hamilton's Mystery Creek on Sunday.

The other six teams in the first division - Tasman, Counties and Manukau, Southland, Eastern, Western and Bay of Plenty - will play off for seedings for next year's event.

A star-studded Netball North easily secured the top spot in pool A with comfortable wins over Canterbury, 61-51, and Tasman, 85-17.

Waikato, with a similarly impressive lineup, cemented the top spot in pool C with convincing wins over Western, 72-25, and Wellington, 74-38, but Auckland Waitakere had to pull out all stops to beat Otago and secure the top spot in pool B.

After a straightforward 56-27 win over Southland on Saturday, Auckland Waitakere fought back from an 11-goal deficit to beat Otago, 56-52, at ASB Stadium yesterday.

With half her team suffering from niggling injuries, Auckland Waitakere coach Judy Weston made 10 lineup changes throughout the match.

Silver Ferns captain Anna Rowberry sat out the first quarter but made an immediate impact when she was introduced at wing attack in the second quarter.

Trailing the Lois Muir-coached Otago side 13-19 in the first quarter and 23-34 at halftime, Auckland Waitakere made six changes in the third quarter.

The young Otago side, who combined so beautifully during the first half, failed to adjust to the changes, which allowed Auckland Waitakere back into the game.

Through some impressive defence from Rachel Rasmussen and Moana Clark, the home side went into the last quarter trailing by just one goal. They took the lead early in the last quarter and managed to keep themselves ahead until the end.

"We decided to do it the hard way," Weston said. "We let ourselves down a bit in the first half ... but I thought they came back really well."

Once again, Auckland Waitakere's shooters were solid. Goal shoot Julie Kelman-Poto netted 18 from 19 attempts in the first half and goal attack Juanita Nilsen five from six.

In the third quarter, Nilsen got seven from nine and Shelley Norris, who replaced Kelman-Poto, landed 12 from 13 attempts.

In the last quarter, Norris landed 10 from 13 attempts and Brigette Tapene four from six.

"We have four totally different shooters, which gives us huge variation," Weston said.

"We have a really good team with really good skills. I feel we are just starting to hit our straps now."

Netball North coach Yvonne Willering was also able work on combinations over the weekend in her side's matches against Canterbury and Tasman at Christchurch.

Without veteran defender Linda Vagana, who was unavailable for the weekend, Willering said one of her team's aims was to work on the partnership between goal keep Kate Dowling and goal defence Matila Waqanidrola.

"Once you get to the tournament a lot of it is how you manage your team," Willering said. "So how you use your subs becomes very important."

After the top six play each other in Hamilton, the top four will progress to the semifinals on September 26 and then the top two on to the final on September 27.

First-division shakedown

* Top six: Netball North, Waikato, Auckland Waitakere, Otago, Canterbury and Wellington

* Bottom six: Counties and Manukau, Bay of Plenty, Southland, Western, Eastern and Tasman.

* The teams play every other team in their group at Mystery Creek in Hamilton, starting this Sunday.

* Only the top six are in contention for the national provincial title.

* The bottom six play off for seeding spots for next year's championships.