There were four games in the ANZ Premiership this weekend, three in Round 6 and one re-arranged fixture from Round 4.
There was lots for international fans to be excited about as they tuned in on NetballPass for the matches, with Stars beating Tactix twice and Steel beating top of the table Mystics.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened…
Tactix 51 – 63 Stars
Tactix finally returned to court this weekend, after missing their last two fixtures due to COVID protocols.
It wasn’t the return they wanted though, as Stars dominated from the start, winning every quarter.
One player that has to be recognised this week for her performance is young Stars and Silver Fern development player Mila Reuelu-Buchanan.
In only her second match of the season the up-and-coming star dominated in the mid-court, making 21 goal assists, 44 feeds and two interceptions.
Steel 64 – 59 Mystics
Steel made amends for their previous 20 goal loss to Mystics in Round 2, with a strong comeback performance that saw them prevent the visitors from doing the double on them.
Mystics started the game the strongest ending the first 15 minutes with a 5-goal lead, but after that it was all about Steel who won the remaining three quarters and the eventually the match.
England Rose George Fisher and Saviour Tui, who was part of the Silver Ferns squad in 2018 and 2019, made no mistake with their shooting for Steel as they both scored over 90% of their shots.
Mystics remain top of the table following the defeat, but the result has shown just what Steel are capable of in the second half of the season.
Magic 39 – 52 Pulse
Goals were few and far between in the opening quarter of the last match in Round 6, with three minutes gone on the scoreboard before Pulse put up the first goal of the match.
As the intensity of the match increased, it became one of defensive dominance with Pulse duo Kelly Jury (New Zealand Silver Fern) and Kristina Manu’a stepping up the pressure and helping their team to victory.
The result leaves bottom of the table Magic with still only one win out of five this season, whilst Pulse are third with three wins from six.
Stars 56 – 48 Tactix
Finally, Stars took on Tactix in a midweek fixture that was re-arranged from Round 4.
It was the second time that the two sides had faced each other in a week, and once again it was Stars that came out on top.
It was a much closer encounter this time, with the final 15-minutes being the most decisive for the home-side.
Once again the Stars midcourt made a difference, with New Zealand Silver Fern Gina Crampton playing the full 60 minutes at Wing Attack making 18 goal assists and 31 feeds into the circle.
Coming up…
Round 7 of the ANZ Premiership will start on Sunday 24th April, however due to COVID protocols there will only be two matches taking place.
To view the full fixture list and recent results, 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.
