Pulse look to add some polish

Pulse look to add some polish

The Central Pulse are keen to raise the performance bar in their second ANZ Championship netball pre-season outing, against SKYCITY Mystics, in New Plymouth on Sunday.

With more new faces than familiar in their 2016 line-up, the Pulse emerged from the unknown to deliver plenty of encouraging signs after their first serious warm-up match against Cold Power Magic last weekend.

The introduction, by new coach Tanya Dearns, of a more expansive and free-flowing style for the coming season delivered a high tempo and at times classy product. There were some early season glitches but it was a promising start from a team who hardly knew each other six weeks ago.

``We’ve got work to do but we’re certainly going the right way about it,’’ Dearns said. ``We want to open it up and play an expansive game and we were able to do that. The girls showed really good composure to play that game plan. We didn’t see them deviate too far from that until later in the game and then they came back to it towards the end, so I was pleased with that and I think we are going in the right direction and we’re now looking forward to Mystics.’’

The match against Mystics will again be played over six quarters providing ample opportunity to test different combinations while offering decent court time for all players. The constant changes to personnel can have an impact on proceedings but are a valuable resource ahead of the start of the season.

Dearns is hoping for a reduced error count and a more seamless transition when the less experienced players are introduced to the fray.

``We’ve got rid of those first game nerves and now it’s a case of, `I’ve got my yellow dress on and I’m good to go’,’’ she said. ``It’s time for a bit of consolidation, learn from the first one and the stuff we didn’t do so well against Magic.

``Mystics is a different type of game plan again, so there will be new challenges there and we need to tidy up our own product.’’

Most of the senior Pulse players got 4-5 quarters against Magic and Dearns was particularly pleased with the fitness levels and ability to cope with the warm playing conditions in Napier.

``I think we finished the game stronger than Magic did which is a testament to the work the girls have been putting in and which is starting to pay off,’’ she said. ``There’s still a little way to go but come the start of the season, we’ll be in a good space.’’

Encouragingly, there were some grumpy players after the 13-goal loss to Magic.

``There’s a number of old heads in there that don’t like losing, so they were a little bit disappointed but on the whole they can see the bigger picture,’’ Dearns said.

``It was an opportunity to bed in some of those young players and get them on court and give them a taste. And it was also an opportunity to test our processes where I was really pleased with our patience and composure in those first three quarters to put pressure on Magic where we could and turn ball over.’’

The team will train in New Plymouth on Saturday ahead of spending time out and about in the Taranaki netball community ahead of Sunday’s game.

Sunday, March 6, 2pm: Central Pulse vs Northern Mystics, New Plymouth. Tickets $12 for adults and $5 for children, via Ticket Master.

ENDS

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