The din of a passionate home crowd is what The Good Oil Tactix’ Ellie Bird has missed most in the revamped 2020 ANZ Premiership – but her ears are in for a special treat this week.
Interest in Christchurch is peaking for the Tactix’ only home game of the season when they suit up on Thursday night against the Stars at Horncastle Arena, a sell-out expected for the Round 8 encounter.
For Bird, she won’t have the “hard yakka” of the weekly flights to Auckland they have encountered since returning from lockdown and the chance to play at home brings many more benefits.
The 1.96m shooter said she and her team-mates were mostly looking forward to performing for their fan base and the larger crowds now allowed in to the ANZ Premiership matches.
“It’s quite different playing in a stadium with such a small crowd – even if it’s not our home crowd – there just hasn’t been the same noise,” she said.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing a sea of red-and-black and having that really noisy support.”
The Tactix are themselves making all the right noises as the ANZ Premiership enters an intense few rounds with the final in sight.
Hitting the right notes now is key, starting with the rematch against the Stars and a trip to play the Magic in Hamilton on Sunday.
The penultimate round of the regular season also looms large for the Tactix with a double-header against the Pulse and Mystics – the teams currently holding down the top two spots.
Bird said the Tactix was looking forward to the challenge and remained confident of stealing a place in the August 23 final.
“I know we can do it,” she said. “We just have to get out there and actually do it now.”
Bird, who is in her third season with the red-and-blacks, has every reason to feel confident after a perfect shooting display against the Stars last week – just the 10th time in ANZ Premiership history.
Her game and connections with new Tactix goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit and wing Erikana Pedersen, have steadily improved since the modified league rebooted in June.
The shooter-to-shooter play between Bird and Selby-Rickit has become assured in recent weeks and Pedersen’s quick release has regularly found its target.
“It’s taken time but it’s starting to feel really good,” she said of their attacking unit.
Pleased to be finally back playing after the lockdown, Bird acknowledged the extended break, along with a challenging pre-season, had had its advantages as she worked hard on her fitness.
She found a new “love” of running and extra strength and agility sessions have contributed to her more mobile game.
“I don’t have the niggles that I’ve possibly had in the past and I think that’s because of the work that’s been done,” she said.
As a tall target in the shooting circle she has gained plenty of attention from the defenders but is still the third most prolific scorer in the league this season.
She expects the Stars to look closely at footage from last week’s match in a bid to keep her quiet on the scoring sheet after a dominant display in Auckland.
The ledger stands at one apiece, after the Stars got the hop in Round 2 with a six-goal win, and Bird wants to see the Tactix take another step forward when they match-up again.
“We’ve taken time to look at what worked for us and what didn’t work against them,” she said. “For us, it’s really about looking at the strengths of our game and building on those. If we can do that, and do it well, then it’s exciting to see how far we can go.”
