Bloxham: The players' effort and intent is there
The Southern Steel slumped to its fourth straight loss to start the 2023 ANZ Premiership on Monday night, but there was some fight shown late in the contest.
The Southern Steel is stuck in a rut searching for a way out; there’s little doubt about that.
But just maybe they might have found a little bright moment late in its 55-36 loss to the Mainland Tactix on Monday night which can provide a much-needed dose of hope for the southerners.
That 55-38 loss was the Steel’s fourth straight to start the 2023 ANZ Premiership campaign.
Prior to the start of the season the Steel had never scored fewer than 40 goals in an ANZ Premiership game. They haven’t scored over 40 goals in each of the four games to date in 2023.
Whatever way you dice it the Steel is battling to keep up this season.
But Southern Steel coach Reinga Bloxham says she cannot fault her players effort and intent.
And the fourth quarter showing on Monday night at ILT Stadium Southland highlighted that.
The Steel headed into the final quarter down 49-27 after losing every quarter. They then showed a bit of resolve to win the final quarter 11-6.
“We talked about taking the little wins out of this game, and just making little improvements. So, to win that last quarter, we are stoked with that,” Bloxham said.
“We just have to be able to have strong moments like that together for longer and then we’ll be able to keep ourselves in contests.
“The girls are training really hard, the effort is there, their intent in what they are doing, they are still trying to put everything out on court.
“When it doesn’t swing your way and it is tough, you get knocked about. But actually, you just have to build some resilience and have to keep going.”
Bloxham felt Steel’s shooters were better against the Tactix than they had been through its first three games. The return of Saviour Tui certainly provided a boost.
“I thought our shooters did a better job tonight of finishing their shots, which was great.
“Because I think in the last couple of games, we were probably guilty of our shooting accuracy. At least tonight I feel it was a much-improved performance.”
While the Steel went into Monday night’s game down on confidence its opponents Mainland Tactix have been riding a high.
They have a team stacked with experience and talent, and they are utilising that.
The defensive circle of Jane Watson and Karin Burger provide an athletic menace for opposition teams.
Bloxham said they just had to try to play the patience game in breaking that down, as tough as that proved to be.
“It is hard to penetrate in there. I thought our girls were really patient at times and it might have looked ugly, but they just kept working and working until they got the ball in.”
While Bloxham admits that patient approach might not make for a great spectacle it’s what’s required from the Steel at the moment.
“We have talked about having to do the hard work and it looks a little bit ugly. Just staying in the uncomfortable phase until we get the ball into the circle, although it isn’t pretty netball, it is just what we have to do at the moment.”
The Steel now sets its sights on the Magic in Invercargill on Saturday night as its attempts to build on the fourth quarter showing against the Tactix.