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RNZ News
29-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Netball: ‘This is the Pulse we know'
Amelia Walmsley of the Central Pulse and Jane Watson of the Tactix tussle for the ball during the ANZ Premiership Netball match, Tactix Vs Pulse, at Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch, 15 June 2025. Photo: / John Davidson Pulse captain Kelly Jackson says her team knows how to pull out a big game when they need it, after a must-win 59-50 victory over the table-topping Tactix. Having lost their previous three matches, the Pulse were under pressure to keep their ANZ Premiership season alive in Wellington last night. Two rounds ago the Tactix beat the Pulse 61-50 at home, but the Pulse replied by consigning the Tactix to just their second loss of the season. On Saturday the Steel leapfrogged the Pulse to third on the ladder by beating the Magic. But with their win over the Tactix, the Pulse have regained the crucial third spot through a superior goal percentage. The Mystics and Tactix have already guaranteed themselves two of the three spots in the finals series, with a couple of weeks left in the regular season. The Pulse were out-of-sorts coming into the game, which was unfamiliar territory for much of the group. Since the start of the ANZ Premiership in 2017, the Pulse have only missed out on one year of finals netball. Jackson, who has won two titles with the franchise in 2020 and 2022, said they knew they had that performance in them. "This is the Pulse we know and we know we've been capable of this, we just haven't been able to put it together for 60 minutes out on court," Jackson said. "But we had a really good training week and we just had a really good feel going into this game knowing what we're capable of. Some would say we're peaking at the right time but we just have to build on this performance going into next week. "We knew the importance of this result and I know in the past when we've had our backs against the wall we have the ability to put out clean clinical performances when it really counts." Erikana Pedersen of the Tactix and Parris Mason of the Pulse tussle for the ball. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2024 The Pulse win was even more impressive given they were forced to tweak their line-up. They were without usual starters Whitney Souness and Fa'amu Ioane due to illness. That saw Maddy Gordon move to wing attack, Ainsleyana Puleiata got her first start at wing defence, and Gabi Simpson at centre. "It's Ainsleyana's first start and I think she had a phenomenal performance, she paired up really well with Gabi in the front and they were able to create really good opportunities for me and Parris [Mason] in the back." Jackson was at her quintessential best after three quiet games. "Our plan was to just take care of our own players, for Parris to shut down Te Paea [Selby-Rickit] and me to shut down Martina [Salmon] and we know when we do that we're creating good opportunities for ourselves." Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley was a tower of strength again, scoring 54 goals. "She's been a huge rock for us at the back, if all else fails we can just chuck it into her and we back her to pull it in." The first quarter saw a defence heavy game with Jackson and Tactix goal keep Jane Watson both having an impact. The Pulse led the Tactix 13-12 after the first quarter. The Pulse did most of the damage in the second quarter, winning it 17-8 to take a 10 goal lead at halftime. The home side led 45-33 after three-quarters and will be glad they had that buffer with Tactix shooters Martina Salmon and Te Paea Selby-Rickit sinking five super shots in the final five minutes.
Scoop
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Scoop
Pulse climb ANZ Premiership ladder with crucial win
Te Wānganga o Raukawa Pulse have kept their eye on the finals series with a commanding win to end a three-match losing streak and keep their campaign rolling. Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, the Pulse were in control from start to finish to beat the ANZ Premiership table-topping VIP Frames and Trusses Tactix 59-50 at TSB Arena in Wellington. The last eight matches between these two teams has seen the result alternated and it proved no different this time with the Pulse getting one back over their red-and-black rivals, a crucial three points banked and a return to the top three on the ladder. When they last met in Round 6, the Tactix came away with an 11-point win with goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit having a big impact on the outcome, but the work of captain Kelly Jackson and Parris Mason nullified the Tactix' key weapon. In contrast, the Tactix had to throw everything at Amelia Walmsley who dominated in the circle against Jane Watson, Karin Burger and Charli Fidler – netting 54 of her team's points. The Pulse were without regular midcourters Fa'amu Ioane and Whitney Souness, both players ruled out with illness, giving Ainsleyana Puleiata her first start of the season. Gabi Simpson started at centre while Maddy Gordon moved to wing attack in a re-jigged midcourt. For the Tactix, it was again a settled line with Martina Salmon getting the start ahead of Ellie Bird at goal shoot. Both teams took time to settle, the hosts realising the importance of the result and the points on offer, but it was the Tactix to make the first break on the scoreboard. Finding the league's highest scorer was paramount for the Pulse with Walmsley a safe bet under the hoop, and her feeders were made to work hard over the ranging arms of Jane Watson and Karin Burger. But it wasn't easy at the other end of the court either with Salmon pushed high in the circle by Jackson and Mason keeping tabs on Selby-Rickit. Every goal was hard fought for entering the super shot period and a turnover created by Gordon lifted the Pulse's intensity as they levelled the scores – a goal on the buzzer giving the hosts a 13-12 advantage at the first break. Shutting down the shooter-to-shooter play, the Pulse defensive duo troubled the Tactix' attacking flow and a couple of turnovers gave the hosts a four-goal lead early in the stanza. It prompted Tactix coach Donna Wilkins to make a change in the shooting circle with Ellie Bird replacing Salmon, but there was no stopping the Pulse who jumped out to a 21-14 buffer before a timeout was called. The connections between Tiana Metuarau and Walmsley were solid in the spell as the latter kept the scoreboard ticking over – the Tactix having no answer to the high ball into the circle. Confidence continued to grow, and the full house cheered loudly as Amorangi Malesala was injected into the super shot period, landing her first two point shot as the Pulse went into halftime with a commanding 30-20 lead. The Tactix made changes in the midcourt with captain Erikana Pedersen moving to centre and Parris Petera coming on to wing attack with Holly Mather moving into defence, while Salmon returned to the shooting circle. But it was again the long reach of Jackson foiling the visitors attempts on attack as the Pulse held onto their lead. The quick release into Walmsley was the undoing of the Tactix' defence and with Mason and Jackson picking up plenty of ball at the other end of the court, the visitors were in danger of falling out of the contest, trailing 33-45 heading into the last turn.
RNZ News
15-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Netball: Slick Tactix take step closer to elusive home final
Amelia Walmsley of the Pulse (left) and Jane Watson of the Tactix tussle for the ball. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 It was the most complete performance of the season from the Tactix, and cemented their position at the top of netball's ANZ Premiership table. The Tactix were firing on all cylinders when they beat the Pulse 61-50 in Christchurch on Sunday. The Mystics are second on the table, and the Pulse third. If the Magic can get a win over the Mystics tonight, they will jump into third, and consign the Pulse to fourth, with four rounds left in the regular season. Martina Salmon started ahead of Ellie Bird in goal shoot and did a brilliant job in tandem with Te Paea Selby-Rickit. Selby-Rickit is not known as a high volume shooter but the veteran goal attack sunk 24 goals, along with Salmon's 36, which made life difficult for the Pulse defenders. It was a huge contrast to the Pulse. Goal shoot Amelia Walmsley was a beacon, scoring 44 goals at 100 percent but goal attack Tiana Metuarau only put up four goals from six attempts. The game pit the teams with the two best defensive records in the league against each other but it was the Tactix Karin Burger-Jane Watson combo that came out on top by far. The Pulse circle pairing of Kelly Jackson and Parris Mason did not have the impact that they normally do. Tactix wing defence Paris Lokotui believed it was her side's best outing this season. "And I believe we've been working towards that the whole year. We were able to get ball on defence and transition that into goals and it was cool to see Martina [Salmon] get a full game out there and get the MVP performance today," Lokotui said. "It was cool that we were able to do that complete performance and work towards the final goal, which is getting a home final." Martina Salmon tries to grab the ball. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 There were three turnovers before the first goal was scored via the Pulse, who got off to a fast start before the Tactix adjusted and led 15-14 after the first quarter. Watson and Burger created some misunderstandings down in the Pulse attacking end, while the Tactix were finding it easier to score. Salmon nailed the first of just two super shots scored across the game, when she beat the half-time whistle to push the Tactix out to a 35-26 lead. Pulse coach Anna Andrews-Tasola played around with the midcourt; at one point Whitney Souness headed to the bench and Maddy Gordon switched to wing attack. Whenever the Pulse got on a mini run, they would throw the ball away. In the end the visitors committed 25 turnovers, which Metuarau described as uncharacteristic. "I didn't feel like every single pass was pressured so in a sense we probably did it to ourselves in just not taking for example an extra pass or resetting, just small things like that," Metuarau said. "Despite the fact that the difference was 11 it actually still felt contested in that last quarter and with the nature of the game now, we can still fight back. "They capitalised on the majority of the ball that they had, which was probably the difference. I think we'd like to get our gains up as a defensive end but I thought there was still some positives, we were still applying some really good pressure in the second half." The home side's starting seven remained on court for the entire game, with the exception of Erikana Pedersen who started cramping with a couple of minutes left in the game. Lokotui said having two very different goal shooters competing for the starting bib, was a big asset. "And it's cool that Te Paea can kind of become a third feeder when that's needed but also put up lots of shots when that works well for us as a team. It was really cool that we were able to do that and execute in those crucial moments." Lokotui said they took on board what the Mystics did when they beat the Pulse in the previous round. "The Mystics came out of the blocks firing and we wanted to do the exact same, we knew that the Pulse were going to be strong and they started really strong so it was just for us keeping the pressure on throughout the whole game, executing crucial moments and finishing where we needed." The Mystics host the Magic in Auckland tonight.
RNZ News
14-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
ANZ Premiership live updates: Tactix v Pulse
Martina Salmon of the Central Pulse and Jane Watson of the Tactix tussle for the ball during the ANZ Premiership match. Copyright photo: John Davidson / Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2024 The table-topping Tactix are looking to keep things that way against the third-placed Pulse. Play starts at 4pm. Follow all the action with RNZ's live blog:
