The Southern Steel will need to overcome significant odds if it is to reach its first ANZ Championship grand final as it prepares for a daunting task in Brisbane this weekend.
The best players stand up when it matters most and Magic shooter Ellen Halpenny provided a master class in keeping cool as she helped her side sink the Southern Steel in a massive upset in Invercargill yesterday.
There was no hiding the disappointment on Steel captain Wendy Frew's face as her side's record-breaking season took a backward step at the wrong time at Stadium Southland yesterday.
Gold X 2 The Duncan Laing Story, which tells the life of one of New Zealand's greatest swimming coaches, will be launched in Dunedin tomorrow. Author Stefan Laing, Duncan's son, spoke to sports reporter Damian George about the book and his reasons for writing it.
The Southern Steel has been in close matches before this season and it will not panic if things get tight in the New Zealand conference final against the Magic in Invercargill tomorrow, vice-captain Shannon Francois says.
Another of Duncan Laing's sons, Graeme Laing, has followed in his father's footsteps.
Dunedin Thunder coach Janos Kaszala has accepted his side's finals prospects are over but hopes his young side can continue to improve as it takes on the table-topping Stampede in Dunedin this weekend.
No.2-ranked New Zealander Douglas Sekone-Fraser looks the man to beat at the South Island Olympic Weightlifting Championships in Dunedin this weekend.
The Southern Steel is about to enter unfamiliar territory and its master coach is instructing the side to embrace the occasion as it prepares for one of the biggest games in the franchise's history.
Can the Southern Steel go all the way in this year's ANZ Championship?
The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic has a history of holding its nerve when it matters most and veteran defender Leana de Bruin hopes the side can ignore the form books to do just that on Sunday.
Shooting superstar Jhaniele Fowler-Reid has been rewarded for her record-breaking year by being named the ANZ Championship New Zealand conference MVP for the second time.
Top seed Jong Eub Han held his nerve to secure a come-from-behind victory in the open men's final of the Otago Open over the weekend.
Simon Latimer could hardly sleep in the days before the London 2012 Olympics but expects to be much more relaxed this time round.
The appearance of five of New Zealand's top 10 male players should add some serious spice to the Otago Open this weekend.
Netball Australia may have opened the door for New Zealand's best players to chase the big bucks in its new domestic league, but the reality is most Kiwi players are probably likely to stay put.
The New Zealand Paralympics team has just got bigger following the late addition of two Dunedin athletes for September's games in Rio.
The Steel is making quite an art out of coming home strongly this season.
An unrelenting injury has dashed Andrew Whyte's Olympic bid and forced him to reconsider his athletics future.
A national trophy could be on its way south for the first time since 2013 as South looks to secure the inaugural national league title in Auckland.
