May 19, 2016

Staying with their opponents early will be crucial to the Central Pulse’s chances against ANZ Championship netball pace-setters the Southern Steel in Wellington on Monday.

The Pulse have shown their ability to fight back but slow starts and letting their opponents get the jump in the first half have proved costly in several outings.

With virtually no game-time stoppages this year due to rule changes, it has become increasingly difficult to chase a game down. Against a well-drilled and unbeaten Steel fuelled with confidence, any slip-ups will be punished.

The Pulse did not have a happy first outing against Steel, losing by 13 goals in Round 4 but remain upbeat about delivering a more positive outcome in the rematch at home.

In her debut season, rookie midcourter Samon Nathan has no doubts the Pulse have the product, the over-riding emphasis being consistency.

``It’s been a bit of a struggle lately to pick ourselves back up during games but we have the right team to do it,’’ she said.

``It’s still about getting those connections. There’s passages in games where it goes so well and there’s such good flow-on, and now we’ve got to nail down sustaining that for 60 minutes.

``There’s no doubts we’ll have that underdog status, so there’s no pressure on us. We, hopefully, can go out there and just do what we should be doing.

``We really need to show more ability to recognise those times when the opposition gets a roll-on and either switch it up or put the pedal down…..those are crucial moments.’’

Moving from her home city of Auckland to join the Pulse this year, Nathan, 23, has seen 81 minutes of action this season, a personal highlight coming when making her first start in last week’s narrow loss to the Northern Mystics.

``I love Wellington and the team, it’s been such a positive experience,’’ she said. ``I’ve only ever lived in Auckland, so it’s been nice to test the waters a bit.’’

The softly spoken Nathan has wholeheartedly embraced the steep learning curve she’s experienced after making the leap from the Auckland Centre and Northern Under 23 teams, of which she captained both.

``It was a big step up and whole different level but I’ve really enjoyed it,’’ she said. ``At the start I didn’t really know what to expect but now I see it as a job.’’

She also has another job, working fulltime in credit control for an insurance company.

``I’m the only person down here, my team’s based up in Auckland but they’ve been so good with moving me down, having flexible working arrangements to work around my netball, so it’s been nice to have that support,’’ she said.

Primarily a wing defence/centre, Nathan impressed with her strength to the ball and feeding options playing from centre against the Mystics and is quietly working the wing attack role into her resume at training.

Coach Tanya Dearns is more than pleased with Nathan’s progress and development to date.

``Her preferred position prior to joining us was wing defence,’’ Dearns said. ``I was looking at her to being midcourt cover which included centre and wing attack and she hadn’t played a lot of that, so she’s really starting to come to grips with that end of the court and showing really good progress and really good promise.’’

Team-mate Phoenix Karaka was the only familiar face when Nathan arrived in Wellington, the pair now flatting together in the vibrant hub of Cuba Street which can be a cause for distraction because ``of all the yummy food places.’’

ENDS.

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