Netball: Pulse may give away wooden spoon

Camilla Lees of the Pulse and Sharni Layton of the Thunderbirds. Photo / Getty Images

Bottom team's recent form looks good enough to fill them with confidence

The screws are being tightened on an under-performing Canterbury Tactix team, as the winless Central Pulse look to offload the wooden spoon.

Although there are still five rounds remaining in the competition, today's round 10 ANZ Championship clash between the two sides in Wellington will likely be key to deciding the final wash-up.

The Pulse may be without a win this season but their form over the past two rounds - particularly Monday night's extra-time one-goal loss to the Northern Mystics - will have filled them with confidence. And with the Tactix woefully out of form, there is a good chance the Pulse could double their winning record in the league today, having notched up just one win from 33 matches over the first two and a half seasons.

The two sides met in the opening round with the Tactix winning that fixture in Christchurch by six goals. Since then both sides have ridden a rollercoaster in form and injury fortunes. But it is the Pulse who look to be on the ride back up. Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said there had been a very different vibe in the camp heading in to today's game.

While the team were disappointed they couldn't quite pull off the upset against the Mystics on Monday, McCausland-Durie said they seemed to be enjoying their netball again.

"They were incredibly disappointed that they had the opportunity and let it slide. And I'm happy about that, because they need to be disappointed if they want to make some more progress," she said.

"But from my end, I'm incredibly proud of the shift. We've had a really challenging front half, and we could have let that keep going and we've talked really clearly about getting some pride back in our performance."

The problem is, the favourites tag doesn't sit well with the Pulse. The Wellington-based side seem to play their best netball when there is no expectation on them to even be competitive.

The pressure clearly got to them in their season-opener when they were expected to knock over the Tactix and the Canterbury side could well benefit again if the Pulse are over-anxious in their approach.

Key to the Pulse's fortunes could also be how well Silver Fern defender Katrina Grant slots back into the line-up after sitting out the past five weeks with a foot injury.

The Pulse have been well-served by former Mystics defender Rachel Rasmussen since she joined the team two weeks ago as temporary injury cover for Grant. Rasmussen was one of the Wellington side's top performers over the past two weeks and it is a shame we have not seen more of her this season.

After being overlooked for a spot in the Northern Mystics, both the Tactix and Pulse offered the 25-year-old defender contracts this season. But neither could offer enough financial incentive for Rasmussen to uproot her young family from Auckland. And so, the talented defender will be back playing club netball this weekend, but she said her small taste of ANZ Championship netball this season had given her a thirst for forcing her way back into the top level next season.

The Northern Mystics have a bye this week as they plot their late assault on a play-offs spot.

While they are well-placed in fifth position on the ladder, last week's nail-biting overtime win against the bottom of the table Pulse was hardly a confidence booster for the Auckland side.

Words like "gutted" and "devastated" were being thrown around after the match - and that was from the winning side.

ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 10

Saturday: 2.20pm Central Pulse v Canterbury Tactix, Wellington.

Sunday: 4.50pm Adelaide Thunderbirds v Queensland Firebirds, Adelaide.

Monday: 7.20pm Southern Steel v Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, Invercargill; 10.05pm West Coast Fever v NSW Swifts, Perth.