Round Three of the ANZ Premiership took place this weekend with all six teams taking to court across the two days.
It was the goal shooters that stole the show this round, with shooting percentages in the 90’s across the board.
Here are just some of the international stars that stood out:
Mystics 62 – 61 Pulse
Only one goal was the difference between Mystics and Pulse this weekend, with a shooting masterclass at both ends of the court. It was Mystics that came out on top, winning 62-61 with their goal shooter Grace Nweke shooting at 92%. The New Zealand international is now top of the goals scored chart having scored 153 of her 162 attempts at goal this season, making her average goal scoring rate sit at 94%. Despite being on the losing side Aliyah Dunn, who is part of New Zealand Silver Ferns high performance, also shot at 93%, scoring 38 of her 41 attempts on goal. This puts Dunn, second on the most goals scored chart with 124 goals to her name so far this season.
Steel 71 – 62 Stars
Sticking with the theme of international stand out shooters, George Fisher had an exceptional game for Steel as they beat Stars 71-61. England Rose Fisher scored 51 of her 52 attempts on goal, meaning she now sits third in the most goals scored chart with a shooting average of 93%, having scored 122 of her 131 shots this year. Once again, even on the losing side the shooters did not disappoint with Stars player and New Zealand Silver Fern Maia Wilson shooting at 92%, as she converted 45 of her 49 shots on goal.
Magic 54 – 61 Tactix
Finally, bringing Round Three to a close Magic took on Tactix in another closely contested match. Despite Magic winning the second quarter, it was the visitors that took the win as they won the third quarter by six and 4th by two to go on and win the match 54-61 securing their first victory of the season. Once again, it was the clinical shooters that stood out with Ellie Bird shooting at 96% for Tactix, converting 45 of her 47 shots to goals and helping her side to victory. For Magic, the excitement was around their Silver Ferns duo, Bailey Mes and Ameliaranne Ekenasio, starting together in the shooting circle. Ekenasio shot at 100% scoring all 10 of her shots, whilst Mes shot at 86% scoring 32 of her 37 shots, but it wasn’t enough for their side this time.
Following on from Round Three, all of the ANZ Premiership sides have now secured at least one win and they will all be hoping for more of the same in Round Four which begins on the 2nd April.
Round Four will also bring a men’s exhibition match between Northern Mystics Men and Northern Stars Men, this will take place on Saturday 2nd April 2pm NZ time and will be live on Sky Sports New Zealand and on NetballPass for International fans.
To view the results so far and the up and coming fixtures, click here.
International fans can watch all the matches live on NetballPass, here.
To remind yourselves of which international players to look out for, click here.
To find out more about the other elite domestic leagues going on around the world, visit our domestic leagues page here.
