Tactix captain Erikana Pedersen celebrates after winning the ANZ Premiership netball final. Photo / Photosport
Suzanne McFadden for LockerRoom
Erikana Pedersen’s body was screaming at her to stop.
But this was one time she wasn’t prepared to listen – desperate to lead her Mainland Tactix side to New Zealand netball history.
Cramping from her hips to her toes, the 30-year-old wing attack pushed through the pain that kicked in late in the third quarter of the ANZ Premiership grand final against the Northern Mystics on Sunday afternoon – and almost made it to the end.
“Everything was going – my toes, my calves, my hips ... everything was completely gone,” Pedersen said with a laugh.
Pedersen retired from the game back in 2021, after the Tactix narrowly lost the Premiership grand final to those same opponents. But this time, everything was pointing to a very different ending.
The Tactix were in control – up by 11 at three-quarter time after a dominant first-quarter blitz that knocked the stuffing out of the defending champions in their own sold-out stadium.
As her side refused to let the Mystics back into the game, Pedersen was confident this was finally Canterbury’s time.
After a short breather on the bench in the final spell, Pedersen was sent back on court by first-time head coach Donna Wilkins – who wanted her captain, who’d given one of her finest performances in 101 matches with the Tactix – to be out there when that moment came.
But with just over a minute left, Pedersen reluctantly limped to the sideline. By then, though, the game was well and truly won.
The Tactix’ emphatic 58–46 victory ended a 28-year wait for a national netball title to be claimed by a Canterbury franchise – a win built on grit, belief, and a complete team performance.
“We had a lot of people doubting us, as they should – we came to Mystics’ territory and they were No 1,” Pedersen said.
“But we had full belief. It was a grind at times, but Donna said ‘It will come. We don’t care if it takes 50 passes to get in there; we don’t care if it’s pretty or ugly. We just want to get those goals in’.”
There’s a strong chance this was Pedersen’s final game of elite netball – and she won’t be the only Tactix player weighing up her future in the next few weeks.
But not all for the same reasons.
Shooter Ellie Bird, who nailed 50 from 54 and stole two unlikely intercepts in the final, had already confirmed this season would be her last – another who came out of retirement for a last shot at a championship. Veterans Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Jane Watson, both unavailable for the Silver Ferns, are nearing the end of their careers – in New Zealand at least.
Karin Burger – widely tipped as the next Silver Ferns captain – was immense on defence in the final, which should further bolster interest from top clubs in Australia and England. And now, with Netball New Zealand’s U-turn on Silver Ferns eligibility for offshore players, the door is officially open for players of Burger’s calibre to leave.
Especially with the future of our domestic league still, incredibly, up in the air. Beyond the promise of a six-team competition in 2026, there are still no confirmed dates or a broadcast deal announced. Franchises would usually be signing players in the weeks immediately after a grand final.
At the trophy presentation, Netball New Zealand head Jennie Wyllie spoke of the league’s record-breaking crowds, outstanding broadcast figures, and exciting innovations (namely the two-point shot) this season – but made no mention of the next.
“We don’t know who’s going to come back next year. We’ve left that ... our focus has been on finals,” Wilkins, a former Silver Fern, said of her Tactix squad. “For some of those old heads and those experienced ones that keep coming back because they wanted to win a championship – that’s what I’m most proud of, now they’ve got it.
“But who knows what next year brings for them? I don’t actually want to talk about it. I just want to enjoy this moment; take that trophy back to Christchurch. It’s a long time coming ... we’ll worry about next year next week.”
The Mystics, lugging around a world of hurt after relinquishing the silverware, also weren’t ready to talk about what lies ahead.
“We wanted to win a grand final first. We’ll deal with that in two weeks’ time,” captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson said. Next, they need to get to the bottom of what went wrong.
The Mystics knew the juggernaut was coming – they’d embarrassed the Tactix by 14 goals at the same venue just a fortnight ago. This time they simply had no answer for how to stop it.
“They did exactly what we thought they were going to do,” head coach Tia Winikerei said afterwards.
“Which is probably why it hurts a lot,” continued Sokolich-Beatson. “Because nothing blindsided us. We were so prepared for them to be that good.”
So why didn’t the Mystics, three-time Premiership champions and clear favourites to pull off the league’s first threepeat, have a game plan to combat that?
“I don’t know the answer to that right now,” Winikerei said. “All I can say is we weren’t good enough for what we knew was coming.”
Wilkins described the Tactix’ first-quarter assault as “next level” – stifling the Mystics’ key weapon Peta Toeava, successfully getting inside the head of shooter Donnell Wallam, and patiently threading the ball down the court to Bird. A run of seven goals took them out to a 17-8 lead at the first break, and from then on, they rarely gave the Mystics a sniff of a comeback.
Burger and Watson responded to Wilkins’ call to get early touches to ball destined for the Mystics’ shooting circle. “Jane did that right from the get-go,” said Wilkins. “We needed to nullify that connection between Peta and Donnell. They were doing one or two more passes before they were launching it in, whereas a couple of weeks ago, it was just catch, boom.”
There was more disappointment for the Mystics after their defeat. At the same time, but across the Tasman, Grace Nweke’s Swifts stunningly lost their Suncorp Super Netball elimination final, 66-65, to the Melbourne Vixens – losing a 10-goal lead in the final quarter.
Winikerei felt for Nweke, who left the Mystics this season to grow her game up against different defenders. “Love you, Gigi. It’s heartbreaking to lose, because of all the work that goes in,” she said. “We got you back here.”
The Pollyanna in Sokolich-Beatson was able to see the Mystics’ success this season as creating a new legacy at the club.
“We got some young kids on the court tonight in a grand final, and the way that they stood up, they held their own,” she said, referring to their two young goal keeps, Charlotte Manley and Catherine Hall (who was arguably the Mystics’ standout player on the night). “I think we’re building something greater than a win here at Mystics.”
The Tactix will hope their triumph marks the beginning of a new era (even if it’s the only time their name is engraved on the ANZ Premiership trophy, should there be a new naming sponsor for next year’s league).
It was a victory built on legacy. The late Robyn Broughton, one of New Zealand’s most successful domestic coaches, helped shape players in the Deep South like Wilkins, who broke down in tears speaking about Broughton’s influence on her first season as a premiership coach.
“I actually brought Robbie with me,” Wilkins said. “I normally talk to her before we play our home games, but this week I thought I better take her with me, and I think it might have helped.”
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.