On a day of significant movement at the NZ Police Netball NZ Open Champs, six teams from three pools confirmed their spots in the top eight with a game to spare while the fourth pool hangs in the balance after day two in Palmerston North.
In Pool A, Invercargill and Counties Manukau Cluster retained their unbeaten records on the back of three straight wins and will meet in tomorrow’s final round of pool play. It was a similar story in Pool B where Auckland and Manawatu A retained a clean sheet and will also square off tomorrow in a bid to sweep their respective pool heading into the more testing challenges of post-section play on Friday.
Pool C was slightly tighter before North Harbour on three straight wins to secure 12 points and Hamilton City with two wins and a bonus point loss to Taranaki yesterday finishing on nine points. Cambridge came in just behind on eight points but have already completed their required four matches of pool play so missed the cut.
Three teams in Pool D have everything to play for tomorrow with Christchurch and Tauranga equal on 10 points at the top of the table when the pair couldn’t be separated when drawing 34-34 today following two wins apiece.
Tucked in behind them and still in with a shout are Dunedin on eight points, who will meet Christchurch in a tournament-defining match tomorrow while Tauranga could consider themselves well-placed when they come up against the winless Mangere Otahuhu tomorrow.
Auckland coach Natalie Milicich has enthusiastically embraced the return of the Open Champs and couldn’t be happier with how her team are progressing.
"There’s a great mix of ANZ (Premiership) players, National League players and younger players who have never played in anything like this before, so it’s a real showcase of talent across the board,’’ she said.
"I’m really pleased with how things are going, we had only a handful of trainings ahead of the tournament but we’re starting to find our groove now.’’
Milicich is looking forward to locking horns with the unbeaten Manawatu A, who are coached by successful Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie, who teaches in Palmerston North, in their final pool match with the view of retaining their confidence levels with another win heading into post-section play.
"That’s going to be a great game, I think we’ll both go through to the top eight but a win would set us up nicely for the latter stages,’’ she said.
With a full-on schedule, which includes all teams playing two games in a day at least once, maintaining fresh athletes was a key with Milicich using her full complement of 12 players throughout their games to date.
No more than three ANZ Premiership players are eligible to compete for any one team at the Open Champs, Milicich having shooter Amorangi Malesala and midcourter Samon Nathan at her disposal while McCausland-Durie has crafted her team without any.
Pool play will be finalised tomorrow morning while in the afternoon, post-section play-offs for places 9 – 20 will start.