Counties Manukau Cluster and Tauranga made the best of starts to record two wins apiece on the opening day of the NetballSmart Netball NZ Open Champs at the Edgar Centre, in Dunedin on Tuesday.
They were closely followed by last year’s winners North Harbour, Auckland, Hamilton City, Manawatu and Christchurch Red, all in the top seedings bracket, who came through unscathed after playing just the one match for winning outcomes.In an example of the close nature in the top spread of teams, the eight and ninth seeds, Invercargill, with player/coach Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit in the driver’s seat, and Waitakere, drew 48-all.
Across four pools, the 19 teams, are, in the first instance, chasing top two finishes which will be determined on Thursday morning, those eight teams will then be in contention for this year’s title with the grand final to be played on Saturday. All games consist of 12-minute quarters.
The opening day’s play certainly didn’t disappoint as a diverse mix of teams and experience delivered encouraging outings to get proceedings under way.
“There’s been some great starts by some and quite intense and competitive games already,’’ Netball New Zealand Emerging Talent Panel Convenor Adrienne Morrin said.
“Teams are looking really enthusiastic and passionate, and the old parochialism is quite evident already.
“When you look at the make-up of the teams, I think everything has gone as you would imagine. And some of those teams are only going to get stronger as time goes on. Even though the scores have blown out in a few games, they have still been quite intense and there’s been no throwing the towel in or backing off which is a really good thing to see on day one.”
With many younger players on show, the tournament holds special significance for their progress and the selectors are keen to see how they react under pressure while in more esteemed company.
“It’s exciting and it’s good to see the mix of National Netball League, the odd franchise (ANZ Premiership) player scattered about the place and for us (selectors), in particular, seeing some of the potential U21 squad members, play in that senior environment,” Morrin said.
“It is a very important tournament. For some of those younger players, and there’s certainly New Zealand Secondary School team members here, and for them to be able to play at that next level, we’re hoping it might accelerate some of their development around the physicality, certainly playing within the rules and learning to work with the umpires as well is something that we’re pretty keen to see.”
After a positive opening day, Morrin expects the competitive juices will only continue to climb in the coming days.
“There will be a lift in the competitiveness and what players are going to have to put out there to actually win,” she said.
“So, it’s pretty intense now and for some players as it gets tougher, more tricks have got to come out from up the sleeve and that will be the exciting part for us, to see where the players can extend themselves.”