The Silvermoon Tactix are now confirmed to go head-to-head against the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in next week’s ANZ Premiership Elimination Final.
When the Grand Final bound Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse defeated the SKYCITY Mystics in last night’s Round 13 match, the result secured a third place finish for the Tactix at the conclusion of the regular season.
It’s a historic moment for the franchise who are set to appear in a Finals Series for the first time ever across all ANZ Premiership and ANZ Championship seasons.
The exciting and talented young group, led by captain Jane Watson, finished the regular season with a record of seven wins and five close losses, beating every other team at least once.
It has been a season with its fair share of adversity after losing captain Jess Macleannan and vice captain Zoe Walker to season ending injuries in Round 2 of the competition.
Head coach Marianne Delaney-Hoshek and assistant coach Julie Seymour, in their first full season at the helm, have developed powerful combinations across the court and will be a tough challenger for the Steel in the Elimination Final.
Delaney-Hoshek said it was a great feeling to have qualified for the Final Series but her side is now focused on pushing for a place in the Grand Final.
“We are so excited to make the Finals Series this year. We have played every game with passion and fight and we wanted to inspire the younger generation of netballers in our zone,” she said.
“The athletes have worked extremely hard on being better players and people throughout this year and I am really proud of the progress that they have made.
“We are blown away by the amount of support we have received from everyone in Mainland and that has certainly been an inspiration to us - our fans have been faithful in tough times and it is great that we can reward them with an extra game or two.
“I would personally like to thank our board, CEO Brigit Hearn for believing in my plan and for the constant support they have shown over the season. We also have an amazing support staff and they have been integral to our success this season, as have the family and friends network that have been helping each of us behind the scenes.”
Netball Mainland CEO Brigit Hearn paid tribute to her team’s efforts so far ahead of next week’s big challenge.
“It has been an amazing season and it’s great to see the initiatives that have been implemented, on and off the court, in our High Performance programme come to fruition.
“Whatever happens from here we are incredibly proud of the team, coaches, management, and support personnel in putting together competitive performances.
“We would like to say a huge thanks to our commercial partners, fans and Mainland community for their on-going support and look forward to putting ourselves to the test against the Steel.”
The Elimination Final features the Silvermoon Tactix up against Ascot Park Southern Steel at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill, 7:45pm on Wednesday 8 August.
As a valued member of our Silvermoon Tactix family, we are giving you the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Elimination Final in a preferential sales window which commences at 10:00am this morning through TicketDirect. The code is ANZPEF18 (case sensitive).
Tickets go on sale to the general public from midday on Friday 3 August through TicketDirect.