It is not lost on The Good Oil Tactix captain Jane Watson the importance of playing for others in this year’s ANZ Premiership – namely the team’s growing fan base.

 

 

Staying engaged with their supporters is a big ask for the red-and-blacks in a season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with just one opportunity to play in front of a home crowd.

But Watson believes they can give their thanks for the support through their performances on court – whether that is at home or away.

“Honestly, it’s so important,” she said of their fans. 

“I know towards the end of our last season it was feeling really good and there was a lot of support within our region for our team.

“For us to play for them is really special and we want to be able to put out good performances and get the icing on the cake with a win for them.”

They hope to get out into the community over the coming weeks but are back to business on Friday night for their ANZ Premiership game against the Splice Construction Magic at the Auckland Netball Centre.

It is a quick turnaround for the Christchurch-based side which was back on their chartered flight on Thursday for the trip north, but Watson is determined to take any positives from the tough schedule of a disrupted season.

“We’re on chartered flights so we can get out after the game which is quite nice – it means we have an extra night or half a night in our own bed which is quite important.

“The quick turnarounds are difficult but we are just grateful to be playing.”

The Tactix banked their first points of the season against the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel when the revised Premiership returned from lockdown last week.

But illness throughout the side took its toll as they backed up against the Robinhood Northern Stars on Monday night for a disappointing loss.

Watson focussed on their Steel performance which “wasn’t the perfect game” but showed that they would be a team to watch this season.

“There were still lots of things to do to improve but knowing that we’ve won, that we can put a performance out on court is really promising,” she said.

Finding themselves low on energy levels was tough against the Stars and the Tactix captain admits this week has been about recovery.

She hopes that energy will be “boosted” when they take on the Magic to help showcase what the Tactix do best.

“I really want to see us going for those hard balls and showing that punch that we can do out on court,” the defender said.

“Just getting that connectedness right through the court will be really important.”

Not that staying connected has been difficult for this tight-knit Tactix unit in what has been a challenging season already.

“We all sort of had to step up and everyone was really good at that,” she said. 

“We’ve got a lot of leaders in our team and the girls are really mature. They know what needs to be done and they’re here to get a job done.”

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