Donna Wilkins has led the Tactix to the region’s first ever National League title, when they defeated the Mystics 58-46 in the ANZ Premiership final on Sunday.
The match was closely contested despite the Tactix being touted pre-game as the match ‘under-dogs’ with the odds looking to favour the incumbent champion.
The Tactix and their National League predecessors, the Canterbury Flames had not won a title since the introduction of franchise Netball in 1998, despite the Flames playing in four Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup Finals (2000, 2001, 2002 & 2004) but lost all four to the Southern Sting.
The Mystics and Tactix have met 28 times in the ANZ Premiership with the Mystics winning 17 and the Tactix 11, while this season, the matches have been split with the Tactix winning the Round 4 meeting 61-50 in Rangiora and the Mystics winning the Round 10 match 70-56.
The team took an early seven point run in the first eight minutes of the game, taking advantage of the Mystic’s eight possession changes and fifteen penalties to finish the first quarter 17-8.
With their motto of ‘find a way’ entrenched firmly in their game plan, the Tactix beat the defending champion Mystics 58-46 at The Trusts Arena in Auckland.
Led by a real fire in the belly and a desire to finally lift the Premiership spoils, the Tactix flew out of the blocks to silence the home crowd and never looked back – marking the first time in 28 seasons of franchise netball in New Zealand with a title.
An emotional Tactix captain Erikana Pedersen paid tribute to new coach Donna Wilkins and the experienced heads including Ellie Bird, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Karin Burger and Jane Watson again stepping up in what was a tense Grand Final.
Few picked the Tactix to upset the Mystics, who had lost just one game this season and had the advantage of playing at home. They had also beaten the Tactix by 14 points just two weeks prior and were expected to win their third straight title.
But the Tactix had a different story written and stuck to their plan of attacking the ball before it got into the hands of Australian sharp shooter Donnell Wallam.
Pedersen marshalled the efforts on attack and the accuracy of Bird in the shooting circle ensured they held onto the lead they built in the first quarter.
The Mystics kept the Tactix thinking with numerous personnel changes, but the visitors were able to nullify everything they threw at them – composed until the very end as they made history with a well deserved first ANZ Premiership title.
