Backs to the wall Pulse ready to come out firing

June 2, 2017
Backs to the wall Pulse ready to come out firing

Facing a quick turnaround, restoring confidence has been key for Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse ahead of their pivotal ANZ premiership netball outing against WBOP Magic in Palmerston North on Monday.

Coming off back-to-back losses, the Pulse are in a race against time to lift themselves off the floor and remain in contention for a place in the play-offs. With just four games remaining in the regular season the Pulse have entered must-win territory in the ever-tightening run to the line.

The Southern Steel have already confirmed their spot in the Finals, the Magic, Northern Mystics, Pulse and still with an outside chance, the Northern Stars battling for the remaining two places.

Showing encouraging earlier enterprise, the Pulse have hit a speed bump with their form in recent weeks, leaving the players frustrated and the coaching staff throwing everything into their preparations for the Magic match-up.

``There’s been a massive focus on this next game,’’ Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said. ``We’ve just got to go all out, so we’re working hard to check clarity, increased our trainings for the week and doing everything we can basically. This is the season right here and we’ve got to go for it.

``We’ve got to make things happen. We’ve proven that we can play together and lately we’ve just lost that connection on court. Our build-ups have been great, they’re all certainly working hard together and they’re taking ownership of stuff so it’s not like it’s disintegrated.’’

Having just a five-day turnaround since their last game is not a concern, the Pulse camp preferring action more often than the longer breaks which haven’t really worked for the team.

Now into the stage of the season where teams are meeting each other for a third time, some sides have lifted while the Pulse have plateaued a little. Ball retention has improved but a previous area of strength, turnover gains has dropped off.

``We’ve got to come out now with not necessarily lots of new stuff but a lot more conviction with what we do,’’ McCausland-Durie said.

``It’s been a strength of ours that we stay quite calm and composed but we actually need to get a bit agitated and aggressive in our play now. On defence we’ve got to attack ball and go out and get it and not just wait for opportunities. We’ve got to go out and create for ourselves.

``Our challenge is finding the balance between calculated risk while maintaining accuracy along with patience.

``We’ve seen evidence in the past where we’ve had that balance right and putting aside the fact that this is a massively important game, we’ve got to go and play. At the moment, maybe, we’re worrying more about outcomes and not playing.’’

The Pulse’s ability to successfully hunt the ball will go a long way to helping disrupt and break down the Magic’s accomplished midcourt connection with their shooters and in particular high-scoring and accurate South African import Lenize Potgieter.

``We know by increasing our ability to play with a bit more openness and courage we’re in business because we’ve got enough talent to do that,’’ the Pulse coach said.

``Every team’s been through what we’ve just been through. They’ve been through it earlier, it’s us now and they’re all coming out of it. We’ve got to just come out of it quickly because we don’t have time for anything else.’’

ENDS.

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