Wrap up

Aitken praised as Plummer poised to attack

It's only early days, but the most important person in New Zealand netball likes what she sees so far in the 2011 ANZ Championship. The Silver Ferns coach goes to as many live games as possible, and was an interested spectator at the Mystics vs Magic clash last week, one of the matches of the round. Aitken felt it was the experience of the Waikato side that allowed them to sprint away in the final quarter.

"They have been through the playoffs and are battle hardened,'' she told me. "They have a settled team from last year. The Mystics look great but are still need to build on being consistent across a match. It was a great game though and a pleasure to be able to sit back, watch and relax - for a change.''

Aitken is always a pleasure to interview - knowledgeable, honest, expressive - with that familiar laugh not far away. She is not afraid of the tough questions, as well as the ill-informed ones that can come her way from our male dominated media.

The other trend for Aitken this season was the increasing number of substitutions across the board. As she points out, coaches seem to be keen to blood youngsters as early as possible, to avoid throwing them in the deep end later in the competition.

But you can overdo it. Steel coach Robyn Broughton, one of the most astute coaches in the competition, thinks you can overdo changing for the sake of it. This was epitomised on Saturday in the Pulse vs Steel clash. While Pulse coach Helen Mahon-Stroud made a plethora of substitutions, which actually disrupted their flow, the Steel made just one switch the whole match. Broughton explained later that it can be counter-productive if the new player fails to adjust to the pace of the game.

Back at the Magic-Mystics, the most intriguing sub-plot was the battle between Casey Williams and Cathrine Latu. The two will be teammates in September, when Latu completes her four year stand down after switching from Samoa. However there seems an intense rivalry between the two, possibly stemming from 2009 when Latu outplayed her famous opposite to seal an unlikely series victory for the World Seven.

Latu had the upper hand early on Thursday, before Williams lifted the intensity in the final quarter to frustrate the burly Mystics shooter.

She is stockier than most, but the Mystics don't seem to want to discuss this weighty issue. It is a tricky one, but the media have shown no mercy with Black Cap Jesse Ryder and his famously rotund build. The issue, without wishing to offend, is as follows; Latu is incredibly agile and fast - but how much quicker and more nimble could she be?

I caught up with our favourite Australian - Norma Plummer - and she was as passionate and controversial as ever. There will be more about her thoughts next time but I believe she is a little misunderstood; she loves the game, talks a lot of sense and doesn't completely deserve her 'nasty' reputation. As you would guess, Plummer is determined for revenge this year and watches every single ANZ Championship match live or on DVD. She generally doesn't take holidays, but is looking forward to a few days at the Hong Kong rugby sevens and then some ‘handbag shopping over in China'.

Looking forward, the gloves come off in the upcoming week for the New Zealand sides. After the competition being confined to this country thus far, round four and five sees our teams take on the Australian franchises. It will be the litmus test - especially for the Mystics who have won only two of 15 trans-Tasman matches over the last three seasons. They will surely have to improve on that ratio to achieve their stated aim of making the finals.