Spirits Remain High in Mojo Pulse Camp   26 Mar 2015

A wobbly start has not diminished coach Robyn Broughton’s faith in Mojo Pulse as they prepare to resurrect their ANZ Championship netball campaign against Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in Wellington on Monday.

Sitting on a one-win three-loss record after the opening rounds, the Pulse have yet to hit their straps but the coach is far from hitting the panic button.

“Professional teams don’t panic, they just get on with it,” Broughton said. “When we do the analysis, the girls are really hard on themselves, so it’s business as usual. We just have to keep working hard and fine-tuning what we’re doing.”

Holding the lead on several occasions in their latest outing against the Mystics, the Pulse let a golden opportunity slip to nail vital points in the competition’s all-important new conference style set-up. The New Zealand and Australian teams play in their own conferences during the season with the top three in each progressing to the play-offs.

Dipping out by five goals to the Mystics, Broughton is well aware of the importance of the New Zealand match-ups for grabbing points. “The conference system does add extra pressure because it’s mostly against New Zealand teams where you get those points so it (Magic) is a really important game,” she said.

The Pulse did a lot of things right against the Mystics, getting more than enough ball to win the match but accuracy under the hoop proved the difference. Defensively strong and with the midcourt gaining momentum, the Pulse’s shooting end remains the major work-on.

“I don’t think we’re feeling the weight of expectation,” Broughton said. “We expect big things of ourselves. We set high standards and we train well. It’s often a fine line…there’s not much in it in a four or five goal loss over an hour. We led all the way and that makes it harder to handle. So, what we have to do is make sure we’re clinically strong at the end. And a bit of it is luck, with the way the ball’s being handled and umpire’s calls.”

It may seem the Pulse have dug themselves into a hole but Broughton has no concerns about the spirit in the camp or the ability of her players to get themselves out of it. “The players are always in good spirits and a really good team to work with,” she said. “They just have to be more accurate with ball placement, putting it in the right place and putting it through the hoop.

“You can’t ever imagine that things will just suddenly click into place, you have to keep working hard all the time. We don’t have any problem with that…..the girls work hard at training, they’re confident in their game plan and what they do. They’ve just got to tidy up their pass placement and be clinically hard in not giving ball away to the opposition.”

The Magic come into the match with a two-win two-loss record and have surprised many with their fortitude after losing key players to long-term injuries. But Broughton is not buying into the much-publicised inexperience tag they carry with them.

She is expecting nothing less than a physically challenging contest. “They play hard and fast, they take risks, so we just have to be ready for what they put out there,” she said.

The Mojo Pulse play the Magic at TSB Bank Arena, Wellington this Monday 30 March. Centre pass is 7.40pm.

Tickets for this game can be purchased from Ticketek here:http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=PULSE15

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