Steel needs a bit of Magic
11 July 2025
It is quite literally going to take some magic for the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel to keep its 2025 ANZ Premiership season alive.
Perhaps one of the worst feelings in sport, the Steel’s future lies firmly in the hands of one it its rivals, the Avis Magic.
It’s a simple scenario. If the Magic beat the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse on Saturday, the Steel can cement a place in the playoffs with a win over the Go Media Stars at ILT Stadium Southland on Monday night. Alternatively, if the Pulse win or get a bonus point by finishing within five goals, the Steel’s campaign effectively grinds to a halt.
Not being in control of their own destiny doesn’t sit well with head coach Wendy Frew but you won’t hear any excuses.
“We probably wish we had another round to be honest. We lost a couple of games on the trot earlier in the season and that’s really affected us now on the table,” she said.
“We’ve done that to ourselves with some of our performances. There’s a couple of games where we could have hung in there for the bonus point or that Mystics game in Dunedin that we could have taken and got the three points. It just comes down to so many little moments that make such a big difference.
“It is all valuable learning. As a player, if you’ve never been in a situation where you’ve missed out on goal differential, or by one win, or by one or two points, those experiences are really important. You build from it and make sure you’re ticking every box in the future to ensure we have the best opportunity to make that top three.
“This group of players, and us as coaches, will be a lot better for those learnings going forward in the future.”
The Steel hasn’t wavered in its approach to Monday night’s clash.
“For us as a team we’re just ensuring we are purely focused on the Stars and putting in a good performance against them. Obviously, we’ll be watching the Magic-Pulse game but really it’s out of our control so we’re just concentrating on bringing the intensity to training and doing all the prep we can do to be ready for the Stars,” Frew said.
When it comes time to reflect, she already knows it will evoke immense pride in the team’s progress.
“They’ve worked really hard. Even though it was a new coaching group and new players, everything gelled pretty nicely.
‘It’s certainly been an enjoyable season so far watching the players grow on the court with their combinations and the culture we’ve created off the court – it’s been such an enjoyable ride and I hope we get the opportunity to make that top three and push on because I feel like the potential of this team is really huge and I would love to have the chance to play in that top three and see what’s possible.”
Scenes of the bench erupting when the Steel beat the Pulse in round seven were a highlight.
“I’ve looked back at that moment and watched it quite a few times and that was just pure emotion right there of getting over the line after being down by nine in the last quarter. It was a whole team effort and those girls on court were just true professionals and put everything out there to execute those last 15 minutes so well,” Frew said.
“You just can’t script those moments – it was just pure emotion. That’s why we play.”
Frew was eager to see a packed house at ILT Stadium.
“Nothing beats playing in our Steel fortress with a full crowd of our loyal fans. We need everyone out in force – the noisier the better.”
Tickets are on sale from the venue or online at www.southernsteel.co.nz.
