Netball: Steel join the Magic in transtasman league finals

Call it deserved, luck, or an inevitable result of the lopsided one-and-a-half-round draw - there will be two New Zealand franchises in the transtasman league finals.

Regardless of the outcome of tonight's clash between the NSW Swifts and Steel in Sydney, the southerners are assured a place in the top four after the Queensland Firebirds were defeated by the West Coast Fever in Perth yesterday.

The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic meanwhile secured their place in the top four with a stirring win over the second-placed Adelaide Thunderbirds in Rotorua on Saturday.

Needing a win to have a fighting chance of making the semifinals, the Firebirds were clearly feeling the pressure and looked shaky from the outset, taking nearly four minutes to score a goal in the match. They fought their way back in by halftime, only to lose their nerve in the latter stages of the match, and the plucky Fever side took advantage.

While all the drama was unfolding in Perth, the Steel were blissfully unaware 3000m in the air as they made their way to Sydney. That was with the exception of their captain, former Australian international Megan Dehn, who arrived in her hometown a day early to catch up with friends and family.

Dehn said that while she was eager to know the result, it wasn't good for her nerves watching the match and riding every goal scored.

"I turned on the first quarter and saw that [the Fever] were ahead and it was making me too nervous so I had to turn it off. I flicked it back on in the final quarter and was just watching the clock tick down and hoping they held on. It was really tense, I think the girls were lucky they were in the air."

While Dehn was delighted her side have made the finals for the second straight year, she is not entirely comfortable with the thought of scraping in on the back of another team's misfortune. She said her side wanted to have got there under their own steam.

"We came over here to beat the Swifts and prove ourselves worthy of a top four spot - they've set the benchmark all year and it will be a great test for us heading into the semifinals."

There is also the added carrot of a win giving the Steel home advantage for next week's minor semifinal against the Magic. If they lose, they will face the Magic at Auckland's Vector Arena as the Waikato side's traditional home venues are both unavailable.

But Magic coach Noeline Taurua said she was not too fussed where her side would be playing next week - she was just relieved they wouldn't be spectators.

A string of poor performances over the past month had the Magic in danger of missing out on the finals. But the star-studded side responded admirably under intense pressure, producing one of their most complete performances of the season to topple the Thunderbirds 53-44.

Taurua said that knowing the match could have been their last of the season, her side wanted to make sure they left it all out there on court.

"There was more passion in that performance than we've ever showed, and that is good for us," said Taurua.

"This will give us a huge kick."

In the other match of the weekend, the Northern Mystics finished their mixed season on a high note, overcoming the Canterbury Tactix 58-47 in Christchurch.

The Central Pulse face the Melbourne Vixens in Porirua in tonight's early match.