Netball: Taurua to resist wholesale changes for Southern Steel clash

Magic coach Noeline Taurua. Photo / Dean Purcell

Magic coach Noeline Taurua has declared the age of experimentation is over heading into tonight's round two transtasman league match-up against Kiwi foes the Southern Steel.

After rotating her entire travelling squad of 10 in her side's opening loss to the Melbourne Vixens, the Waikato/Bay of Plenty coach is promising a more settled approach to team selections tonight.

She claims the side's round one match-up against the defending champions was just a "tester" after the Magic opted to bypass pre-season tournaments in favour of maintaining a low-key build-up.

"That first one was a tester and we got everyone out on court. There was a lot of our team who hadn't played against an Australian team let alone the best in the competition.

"So, if we work it right from this week on, they could become very good players having been given that opportunity," she said.

"I want to start consolidating both ends of the court now, so if there are changes they won't be wholesale," she said of tonight's match in Rotorua.

While Taurua was criticised last season for not going to her bench enough, the wisdom of making wholesale changes against the competition favourites also has to be questioned.

After a heavily disrupted build-up to the season, the injury-hit Vixens looked very ordinary in their opening encounter and had the Magic stuck with their first-string line-up they would have been in with a good chance of sneaking away with a rare win on Australian soil.

But Taurua preferred to use the opening match as an opportunity to gauge where her side were at.

Many would argue the opportunity to grab two points would have been more valuable, but the Magic coach insists the team gained a lot from the clash.

With consolidation and consistency keys against the always gritty Steel, a more settled line-up will likely serve the Magic well as they look to drag themselves off the bottom of the table with a strong performance tonight.

The Magic made an exorbitant 24 turnovers in their opening encounter and Taurua said they must cut down their error rate down markedly tonight if they are to succeed against the Steel, whose strength is ball retention.

The Steel will be without frontliner Daneka Wipiiti after the 1.94m shooter failed to come through a fitness test on Saturday.

Wipiiti has been replaced in the squad by development player Te Paea Selby-Rickit.

In tonight's other match, the Canterbury Tactix face the West Coast Fever in Perth.

Round 2

* Northern Mystics 61- 50 Central Pulse

* NSW Swifts 45-38 Adelaide Thunderbirds

* Melbourne Vixens 53-46 Queensland Firebirds

Tonight:

* Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic v Southern Steel

* West Coast Fever v Canterbury Tactix