Netball: ANZ Premiership's shorter season brings 'huge pressure'

ANZ Premiership netball coaches are bracing themselves for a pressure-cooker environment when the domestic competition starts this weekend.

In an effort to create more intense battles, the Premiership has been cut from three rounds to two.

Teams will play 10 regular season games rather than 15, which means they can not afford to lose many games if they want to guarantee themselves a place in the finals.

Donna Wilkins is a first year head coach at the Tactix. The former Silver Fern said there was no time to build into the season.

"Huge pressure, basically you have to win nearly every game.

"You need to win at least eight of your 10 games to be certain, without having to rely on other teams' results. You might get through if you win six or seven but then you're factoring in what other teams do so a lot of pressure goes onto every match, it's crunch time every time the girls step out on court," Wilkins said.

"It will be interesting to see how different coaches approach those games now, like are they going to give their bench a run? And if someone's injured it's a race against time to get them back on the court because you don't have that extra five weeks."

Last week the Pulse recruited former Australian Diamond Gabi Simpson to provide injury cover for their midcourt, saying they felt with the shorter season they needed an experienced player.

Wilkins said taking advantage of home court would also be crucial.

"It's massive, it's really hard to win away from home so you need to protect your home court, make sure when you're home you can get the crowd behind you. We're quite lucky we play at home first so that's a big one for us to use that advantage."

What is Wilkins approach when it comes to a starting line-up, especially given the short season?

"It's consistency, can these players bring it every week and cement their starting spot and I'm a firm believer that you earn your right to be on court and that's through performance so I think I will probably have a starting seven or eight that can fluctuate. But I've given everyone lots of time in pre-season so I'm pretty confident that all my players can go on and do their job - at what capacity and what length who knows but they've all got the ability to go out there."

Wilkins said a couple of players were carrying niggly injuries but was hopeful she will have a full team of 10 to pick from for the first round.

New Southern Steel coach Wendy Frew said they had to get it right from the start.

"You've got to attack round one, you've got to win it, you can't actually afford to drop many games. We've got two on the road and we really need to target those as wins. If you get too behind on the ladder, it's going to be really hard to catch up so for us we just really need to start well and put everything into it," Frew said.

"We've been trying to put everything together in the short amount of time we've had and ensuring that the girls know the structures and game plans. We've certainly trained them really hard and they've put in an immense amount of effort and hopefully now they can just put all that training onto the court and go from there."

The Steel had a couple of players dealing with injuries in the pre-season.

"It has been a little bit challenging with the limited numbers at trainings at times but we're nearly over that so we're hoping that's the end of our injuries and the girls are ready to charge into the season."

Is Frew likely to do much tinkering with her line-up?

"I think there'll be a starting seven but there's always going to be wriggle room and we want players to be having to put their best foot forward during the week to ensure they make that starting line-up, like no one's guaranteed it.

"We're really strong through the midcourt so it'll depend who we're playing and who we put against the opposition and we've got some young players who are really putting their hand up too."

Temepara Bailey is the new coach of the Stars and the former Silver Fern knows getting wins upfront will be crucial.

"It's hit the ground running, you've only got one chance I suppose, so we want to click early and ensure we play to our potential," Bailey said.

She said there was a bit of a headache over who would be in the Stars' starting seven.

"We're fortunate ...and I think it will depend on who we play, tactically who matches better and what we want from the game. We haven't got a solid starting seven yet but you'll probably see familiar faces each week in different positions."

Stars midcourter Samon Nathan will be unavailable for at least a month after picking up an injury in a pre-season hit-out against the Magic.

Trial and error

New rule innovations have been introduced this season, including a two-point shot in the final five minutes of each quarter.

Bailey said there would probably be some trial and error about when best to use it.

"You could be up by 14, but then lose by two so it's a very interesting game and there's a defensive strategy and then an attacking strategy and I don't know if we've got that down pat yet but I think we'll learn lots as we go on.

"Those first 10 minutes are the most important part of the game where we need to actually nail any possession we have so when we go into those last five minutes that we can just keep ticking it over as opposed to risking the two-pointers - well that's one strategy I think, there's probably plenty more out there," Bailey laughed.

Frew said they were still learning how to utilise it.

"We've got a few tactics around it but it really comes down to what part of the game you're in, what the score is, and who you're playing against. I'm sure we'll probably learn some things in the first couple of weeks ...really exciting I think it's a cool element for the game and there will be games won and lost in the dying seconds from someone hitting the two," Frew said.

As a former New Zealand basketball international, Wilkins knows all about sinking long range shots. She thinks the new rule will help draw crowds into the game more.

"But I think everyone thinks that they are a two-point specialist now and we've got all our shooters shooting twos and it's great for them to practice but I'm not sure I want all of them shooting them in the game.

"You look at the stats in the Australian league, they don't really shoot higher than 50 percent from the two-point range, and their range is closer than ours. Your position on the scoreboard will come into it, like it's a great opportunity if you are down to try to catch up but then you also have to nail those shots otherwise you're giving the opposition a chance to get rebounds so a lot of strategies come into play," Wilkins said.

The three inaugural head coaches know each other well and are excited to get into their debut seasons.

"I'm also a little bit nervous to be honest," Bailey said.

"It's funny because you are kind of in your own bubble with your team and then we went down and played against Magic in the pre-season and they had a massive crowd and then it's starting to become real so I'm quietly confident but a little nervous at the same time."

Frew will come up against Wilkins in round one when the Steel and Tactix meet in Christchurch on Sunday.

"There's always a good derby between the South Island counterparts so looking forward to getting out there. Donna and Hoochie [Tactix assistant coach Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit] are really good mates of Liana [Leota, Steel assistant coach] and I so it's going to be cool to play them, we're just excited about the opportunity to come up against them.

"During the game it will be a good battle but after we'll embrace each other and have a good chat and we'll always be there for each other on our coaching journeys."

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