Australian legend continues with Pulse
- Dave Worsley
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Former Australian netball great Vicki Wilson will be on hand for the eighth edition of the Te Wānanga o Raukawa pre-season netball tournament in Ōtaki this weekend.
Playing over 100 tests for Australia during a 15-year international career, Wilson was the world’s best goal shoot during the 1990s.
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She has a prime opportunity to cast her eye over this year’s edition of the Central Pulse as well as some of their rivals, including the Northern Mystics, Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Waikato-BOP Magic this weekend.
In an historic first, the Pulse will open the tournament against the Pulse Men on Friday.
``Seeing them in a game situation gives you a wonderful opportunity to look at various structures that need working on and even the fundamental skills that are required to fulfil good play within those structures,’’ Wilson said.
``It’s early days and it’s seeing where everyone is at but also a great opportunity to connect with (coaches) Anna (Andrews-Tasola) and Kim (Howard) to just talk through where the Pulse are heading in 2025.’’
With rule innovations being introduced for this year’s ANZ Premiership, most notably the two-point shot, where the opportunity to score double points from distance will come into play for the last five minutes of each quarter, the tournament is an added opportunity for teams to navigate the new dynamic.
``The two-point shot has a different effect, whether you’re the trailing team or the leading team and it certainly brings a great deal of pressure if you’re the trailing team,’’ Wilson said. ``But you can use it in so many ways and it’s all about developing awareness.’’
Under Australian rules, shooters need to be three metres away from the goalpost for shots to be doubled. In this year’s ANZ Premiership, shooters will have to be at least 3.5 metres away from the post for a shot to be worth two-points, the same as Fast5 netball.
``Even for the two-point shot in Australia being closer, it still reduces the accuracy somewhat, down to 70 percent and even lower, so I’m not quite sure what the impact of the two-point shot will be here and it will be interesting to see how many teams go for it,’’ Wilson said.
From a playing and spectator perspective, Wilson likes the concept because it means the ``game is never dead, forces goalers to increase their range and makes the defence change to a very different game’’. But on the flipside, can cause all sorts of hair-raising moments for a coach.
With the Pulse retaining their shooting trio from last season, which at times was decimated by injury, Wilson cannot wait to get stuck in.
``I’m very happy to be working with Amelia (Walmsley), Tiana (Metuarau) and Khiarna (Williams) and have that opportunity just to build on last year where we had lots of challenges around injuries,’’ she said.
``The potential is certainly there ... Tiana’s just a master of court craft, she has the ball on a string and her ability to position everyone else, Amelia’s got this terrific aerial game and still learning the skills to go with it and Khiarna had injury challenges last year so to get some constant matches will be perfect for her as she’s a really clever player.’’
With some on managed loads and others adhering to return to play protocols, the Pulse will have an extended squad in attendance for the tournament.
Kelly Jackson will captain the Pulse this year with last season’s co-captain Metuarau keen to just concentrate on her own game after missing a big chunk of last season through injury.
In a unique experience, all teams, including management, officials and umpires will be accommodated at the Te Wānanga o Raukawa campus in Ōtaki, north of Wellington.
All matches will be played at the Māori tertiary education provider’s health and fitness facility, Ngā Purapura.
TE WANANGA O RAUKAWA TOURNAMENT DRAW
FRIDAY, APRIL 11
Central Pulse vs Central Pulse Men, 6pm
Northern Mystics vs Mainland Tactix, 7.45pm
SATURDAY, APRIL 12
Central Pulse vs Southern Steel, 9am
Waikato-BOP Magic vs Mainland Tactix, 11am
Northern Mystics vs Central Pulse, 2pm
Southern Steel vs Waikato-BOP Magic, 4pm
SUNDAY, APRIL 13
Southern Steel vs Northern Mystics, 9am
Central Pulse vs Waikato-BOP Magic, 11am .