Defensive Effort Earns Tactix Elimination Final Victory
The Tactix kept their clean sheet at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch for the season with a 57-52 win over the Pulse on Sunday night, sending them into the Grand Final where they will meet the Mystics in Auckland in seven days.
They needed to rally a huge defensive effort in the last super shot period of play as the Pulse, renowned for their accuracy with two-pointers, netted four super shots in an attempt to steal back the lead.
But backed by their home crowd and some key gains from goal defence Karin Burger, the Tactix held their composure to push them through to the Grand Final – a first for new coach Donna Wilkins.
It was a mix of the collective defensive pressure through the court and the growing confidence to let the ball go into Ellie Bird, over the top of the long reach of Kelly Jackson, ignited the Tactix late in the third spell and the momentum carried through to the deciding quarter as the hosts started to take control of the match.
In contrast, the easy ball that had earlier gone into Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley dried up for the visitors who found themselves facing a nine-goal deficit midway through the last spell.
The Tactix had earlier sprung a surprise in their starting line-up with Burger moving out to the wing and Paris Lokotui taking her spot alongside Jane Watson in the defensive circle. But it was the familiar frontline of Holly Mather, Erikana Pedersen – playing her 100th match for the Tactix – and Te Paea Selby-Rickit at goal attack while Bird got the nod ahead of Martina Salmon at goal shooter.
Missing three of their regular starters, including Parris Mason (injury), Whitney Souness and Fa'amu Ioane on the bench, the Pulse went with the experience of Gabi Simpson at centre, Maddy Gordon on the wing and Ainsleyana Puleiata at wing defence while Laura Balmer again teamed with Kelly Jackson in the defensive circle with Amelia Walmsley and Tiana Metuarau pairing up in the shooting circle.
With their seasons on the line, each side kept their nerves buried scoring from their centre passes and turnovers from either side kept the scoreline even early in the stanza.
Finding the tall timber at either end of the court was aim of both teams – the Tactix moving the ball quickly around the circle while the Pulse looked for the high ball into Walmsley – success coming from the two camps with the scores locked at 5-5.
The Tactix' defensive unit attempted to attack the ball outside of the circle, shutting down options into Walmsley, but the quick release from Tiana Metuarau into her shooter gave the visitors the edge in a frenetic first quarter.
Souness and Ioane were injected into the match, heading into the super shot period, and another gain to the Pulse gave them a 14-10 advantage at the break.
Metuarau attempted her first goal of the game, and landed it, to keep her side ahead on the resumption of play but the Tactix returned to the court with intent, looking to close the four-goal buffer.
The struggles up front however returned to the Tactix play, with no easy entry into the shooting circle and an intercept from Jackson gave the visitors a six-goal lead midway through the second quarter.
Gordon dictated the tempo up front for the Pulse, hitting the circle edge and firing ball into Walmsley prompting a time-out from the Tactix to switch the defensive line with Burger moving to goal defence and Lokotui to the wing.
Five goals remained the difference heading into the second super shot period as the Pulse brought two-point specialist Amorangi Malesala into the match, but it was the Tactix who netted the first long bomb of the game with Selby-Rickit helping to close the gap to 26-30 on the buzzer for halftime.
Four quick goals to the Pulse at the start of the second half changed momentum and every goal the hosts were able to net was hard earned as the intensity increased.
The midcourt defensive efforts from the Tactix brought them back into the match with two turnovers allowing the hosts to cut the deficit to just two, warming up the red-and-black fans in the stands.
Patience with ball in hand was needed and the deflections started to mount for the Tactix as they levelled the scores with two minutes left in the spell, going into the turn with a 41-40 lead.
The ANZ Premiership Grand Final between the defending champion Mystics and Tactix will be played at The Trusts Arena in Auckland on 27 July, starting at 4pm.
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Amelia Walmsley and Jane Watson (right) Photo: / John Davidson Captain Erikana Pedersen, playing in her 100th match for the Tactix, said the finals pressure was palpable. "And we felt that ... but I thought as cliché as it sounds it was literally a game of two halves. I thought we came out really strongly, we looked after our centre pass, the defence got us ball and we scored off it as well which really lifted us," Pedersen said. It took the Pulse 3.5 minutes to score in the final quarter. Amorangi Malesala came on at GA for the super shot period and nailed three in the dying minutes but it was too little too late. The Pulse made countless changes throughout the match in complete contrast to the Tactix, who finished with the same seven on court. It was a disappointing loss for the Pulse, who suffered a heartbreaking one goal loss in last year's grand final. "Disruptive" was the term used to describe their season as the side dealt with injury and illness. Perhaps the biggest blow was the loss of tenacious goal defence Parris Mason, due to a nasty neck injury suffered in round eight. Given that adversity, finishing third in the competition was not a bad effort. Wilkins acknowledged that the Tactix looked like a different side to the one that lost 56-70 to the Mystics in Auckland just a week ago. "And we didn't get a lot of ball last week and it was probably one of our worst performances collectively. But you learn more from losses and we had a really good week training, we worked on what we needed to work on and I think we brought that." Donna Wilkins Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 Wilkins is in her first year as a head coach in the domestic league. The former Silver Fern and Tall Fern was a no-nonsense player in her day. Pedersen said there had definitely been a shift in the Tactix this year, and that was reflected in how they had been able to lift themselves after a loss. "I think our mentality has shifted and Donna this year has probably brought that ruthless mindset, growth mindset always wanting to be better. As a collective I thought we trained our butts off this week, we were coming off trainings exhausted but we knew that we needed to do that to prepare for this game because it was exhausting on the court. "I just love Donna's passion, you come into a huddle, you see that she wants it just as badly as we do. And there's nothing that gives up more confidence when you see a coach like that really lead us with confidence and passion. "I think that game was the best preparation we could have got leading into the final next week." The Tactix were runners up in 2020 and 2021. Wilkins said there was no reason they couldn't lift the title for the first time. "Just being in the final and having a chance ... we've given ourselves an opportunity, probably nobody will pick us ... but just going up there with nothing to lose. We know we can play better than last week [against the Mystics] and look out if we do get it all right on the night," Wilkins said. She said it was easy being around a group of people who wanted to perform and work hard. "Just giving those opportunities to people that want to play. You know we've got the experienced ones that are leading by example and working their butts off every game, you look at Te Paea and her workrate this year alone. "Erikana coming back from injury but managing to play every game so she can tick off that 100. Holly [Mather] coming in first year contract, she's been up and down but all she wanted today was to get ball and she got that one so the lift that she's going to get from that performance today to go into the final is massive." The Tactix and Mystics meet in the grand final on Sunday at 4pm in Auckland. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
