Astute netball judge Lyn Gunson believes Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic need to re-invent themselves if they are to stay in the race for the trans-Tasman netball title.
Although second in the table, the leading New Zealand team have suffered an unexpected ambush by the Queensland Firebirds before scrambling a two-goal win over the Canterbury Tactix in their most recent games.
"What I see is a slightly stalled team," Gunson said.
"I think Magic are at a stage where they've played together a lot and they need to regroup and push forward into the game. "They need to do new things, create new units and activities otherwise other teams will just go past them. A professional environment will do that to you." Gunson, who returned to New Zealand last year after eight years immersed in English netball in a variety of roles, including national coach, thinks within the next few rounds the cream will rise to the top in the trans-Tasman competition.
"There will be a definite step forward by some teams -- those that think, analyse well and continue to try and grow their team," she said. "Those teams, both as individuals and as a collective, will keep re-inventing.
"Any team in the top position has to continue to push the boundaries of the game. If you don't keep pushing forward and trying to chance your arm, you're going to get caught and really struggle." Gunson said the New Zealand teams were not as far off the pace as it may appear and a host of reasons including age-group structures, playing numbers, different playing styles, umpiring and rule interpretations and their enforcement have contributed to the Australians having an edge so far.
"In Australia, the states are behind those teams and they almost actually own them and that is not the case here.
"So, even from that perspective, the structural set-up creates a difference in terms of preparation," she said.
Coach of the Bay of Plenty Magic when New Zealand first launched a franchise-type competition in 1998 before they merged with the Waikato Wildcats the following year, Gunson now works for Netball North Harbour overseeing the development of the game in the region.
She does not favour all the changes the modern era of netball has brought with it.
"It's much more aggressive, people are much more inclined to want to go for body blocks and physical characteristics like that and the game has definitely lost some of the subtleties that used to be involved," she said.
"More people are prepared to go against the rules throughout the game and that's put much more pressure on the umpires." Magic coach Noeline Taurua is in tune with Gunson's thoughts and has been working towards producing a more watertight structure from her talented but sometimes wayward line-up.
The coach is likely to introduce some changes for Saturday's sixth round match against the winless Central Pulse in Hamilton where she is looking for a more complete performance.
"The loss to the Firebirds taught us that any team on any week can beat anybody else and that includes the Pulse," she said.
"We're still working on our connections through court and just doing the basics and the simple things well which are still a long way off." NZPA WGT pm nb
