Mainland may have left their run at a finals berth of the Synergy Hair Netball League a little late, but the side still wants to “go out with a bang”, says midcourter Emma Thompson.
Sitting in third place, a win over the second-placed Robinhood Comets at Christchurch Arena on Sunday would not be enough to secure them a spot in the Grand Final – maximum points would leave them just one point shy of a top two placing at the conclusion of the regular season.
Thompson said there would be a few “what ifs” they would have to endure but their goal now, after beating the defending champion Central Manawa last week, was to account for the other finalists.
“We’d love another couple of rounds,” she said with a laugh.
“We’re coming off a strong win over Manawa and playing Comets this weekend. Those are the teams that finished in the top two so our goal is to go out with a bang and hopefully we can be content in our result if we can challenge those top two teams.”
Thompson said Mainland had a “tough run” at the start of the season when they were hampered by injury and illness, but it took a team meeting with some challenging conversations to help turn their campaign around.
“We didn’t want to be known as the team on the bottom of the ladder and we wanted to be proud to wear the uniform,” she said.
“The girls responded really well, we’ve connected really well and got the results. We’ve now just run out of time.”
The dual citizen, who grew up in Australia, made the move to Christchurch this year to pursue a different style of netball.
She initially crossed the Tasman in 2020 when she headed to the Northern Marvels but when the global pandemic hit, she returned to Victoria before taking up a spot with the Giants Academy in Sydney.
But with limited opportunities to take her game to the next level, Thompson decided to make the shift to the Mainland where she was offered a position as a Tactix apprentice player.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s quite a different style of play in New Zealand compared to Australia so I’ve had to adapt a little bit, but I found the Mainland environment quite welcoming, and they’ve been really proactive in helping me adapt.
“I’ve been involved a lot in the Tactix environment which was one of the main reasons I wanted make the move, and it’s been great.”
With the season end fast approaching, Thompson said she was taking her netball “one day at a time” and was pleased she took the opportunity to test herself on this side of the ditch.
“I’d definitely like to continue to pursue netball in New Zealand.”
In other SHNL matches this weekend, Manawa host the Northern Marvels on Saturday while the Southern Blast head to Hamilton to meet Waikato BOP. The SHNL Grand Final will be played at TSB Arena on 14 May between Manawa and the Comets.