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It was a position many thought the Northern Mystics would hold at the beginning of the season.
Now the Canterbury Tactix are looking to drive home their billing as the number two ranked New Zealand side when the two sides meet in tonight's round nine ANZ Championship clash in Auckland.
The two sides first met in the opening round of the competition, with the safe and steady Tactix edging past the up and down Mystics late in the match.
At the time it was billed an upset, but tonight the Tactix are favourites to knock over the under-fire Mystics who, despite a win last week against the lowly Central Pulse, are still performing well below their best.
Though they are nine rounds into the season and still yet to "put it all out on court", Mystics coach Yvonne Willering believes her side is beginning to show promising signs.
The Mystics last week showed how dominant they can be when the turnover ball is converted and the shooters are prepared to put up the shots, with the introduction of Silver Fern rookie Paula Griffin to the starting line-up last week proving particularly effective. But the Mystics still came unstuck at times through unforced errors and poor option-taking.
"That's been the whole season for us actually," Willering mused.
"That's why it's been particularly frustrating as a coach. All our combinations have worked well in parts, it's difficult to know when it works and when it doesn't."
The opportunity of a re-match against the Tactix is certain to spur the Mystics on after their heart-breaking round one loss.
On that occasion the Mystics did not have the full complement of players in the defensive end, with Leana de Bruin only able to play half a game due to a niggly ankle injury, while Vilimaina Davu was still not deemed fit enough to take the court having joined the side late in pre-season.
Depending on the result of tonight's other match, a win for the Tactix could potentially boost the Canterbury side into the top four and will almost certainly spark questions from the Australian franchises over the standard of play on this side of the Tasman after a five-week stint of domestic clashes.
If they are looking for supporting evidence, Saturday's clash between the Southern Steel and Central Pulse would serve as worthy ammunition, with the Southerners coming out on top in a dire, low-scoring affair in Invercargill.
The match, which the Steel won 41-29, was punctuated by turnovers and general sloppy play-making.
In the weekend's other match-up the Melbourne Vixens easily disposed of the West Coast Fever 57-44 in Melbourne. After leading by eight goals at halftime, a dominant third quarter saw the home side stretch their advantage out to 14 heading into the final spell. But a raft of changes for the final quarter halted the Vixens' progress and they failed to build on their lead.
In tonight's late game the Queensland Firebirds are looking to join the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic at the top of the table when they take on the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
