The Tactix celebrate. Photo: Photosport
The Tactix have earnt themselves their first grand final berth since 2021 after beating the Pulse 57-52 in last night's elimination final in Christchurch.
They will meet the ANZ Premiership defending champion Mystics, the team that beat them by two goals in that 2021 final.
And they believe Sunday's gutsy victory over the Pulse shows they are capable of winning a maiden title, which has been so elusive for the franchise.
The Pulse had far better flow on attack than the home side to start with and led 14-10 after the first quarter.
They pushed that lead out to six goals part way through the second quarter but the Tactix started to consolidate.
When Silver Ferns defender Karin Burger shifted to goal defence, after starting at wing defence, the Tactix defensive end started to slow down ball into Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley.
Maddy Gordon at wing attack was able to fire balls at will into Walmsley early on.
Walmsley, who has had a tremendous season, looked on track to score 50-plus goals, having put up 29 in just the first half.
But it was Tactix goal shoot Ellie Bird, who ended the game as the highest scorer, with 47.
The veteran shooter became a better target as the game went on and Tactix coach Donna Wilkins said Bird just gained more confidence.
"I think at times we can talk ourselves out of something and you know look she's playing against Kelly [Jackson] right so you know that's a pretty tough ask and she probably hasn't in the past performed as good as she could against Kelly but today she did. She was a bit scratchy to start with but by gosh she was awesome." Wilkins said.
When Tactix goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit nailed a Super Shot on the halftime buzzer to get the home side within four, it also signalled a momentum shift.
During the third quarter the Tactix defensive end really turned it on and disrupted the Pulse, which saw the home side win the period 15-10.
Amelia Walmsley and Jane Watson (right) Photo: www.photosport.nz / John Davidson
Captain Erikana Pedersen, playing in her 100th match for the Tactix, said the finals pressure was palpable.
"And we felt that ... but I thought as cliché as it sounds it was literally a game of two halves. I thought we came out really strongly, we looked after our centre pass, the defence got us ball and we scored off it as well which really lifted us," Pedersen said.
It took the Pulse 3.5 minutes to score in the final quarter. Amorangi Malesala came on at GA for the super shot period and nailed three in the dying minutes but it was too little too late.
The Pulse made countless changes throughout the match in complete contrast to the Tactix, who finished with the same seven on court.
It was a disappointing loss for the Pulse, who suffered a heartbreaking one goal loss in last year's grand final.
"Disruptive" was the term used to describe their season as the side dealt with injury and illness.
Perhaps the biggest blow was the loss of tenacious goal defence Parris Mason, due to a nasty neck injury suffered in round eight.
Given that adversity, finishing third in the competition was not a bad effort.
Ruthless mindset
Wilkins acknowledged that the Tactix looked like a different side to the one that lost 56-70 to the Mystics in Auckland just a week ago.
"And we didn't get a lot of ball last week and it was probably one of our worst performances collectively. But you learn more from losses and we had a really good week training, we worked on what we needed to work on and I think we brought that."
Donna Wilkins Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 www.photosport.nz
Wilkins is in her first year as a head coach in the domestic league. The former Silver Fern and Tall Fern was a no-nonsense player in her day.
Pedersen said there had definitely been a shift in the Tactix this year, and that was reflected in how they had been able to lift themselves after a loss.
"I think our mentality has shifted and Donna this year has probably brought that ruthless mindset, growth mindset always wanting to be better. As a collective I thought we trained our butts off this week, we were coming off trainings exhausted but we knew that we needed to do that to prepare for this game because it was exhausting on the court.
"I just love Donna's passion, you come into a huddle, you see that she wants it just as badly as we do. And there's nothing that gives up more confidence when you see a coach like that really lead us with confidence and passion.
"I think that game was the best preparation we could have got leading into the final next week."
The Tactix were runners up in 2020 and 2021. Wilkins said there was no reason they couldn't lift the title for the first time.
"Just being in the final and having a chance ... we've given ourselves an opportunity, probably nobody will pick us ... but just going up there with nothing to lose. We know we can play better than last week [against the Mystics] and look out if we do get it all right on the night," Wilkins said.
She said it was easy being around a group of people who wanted to perform and work hard.
"Just giving those opportunities to people that want to play. You know we've got the experienced ones that are leading by example and working their butts off every game, you look at Te Paea and her workrate this year alone.
"Erikana coming back from injury but managing to play every game so she can tick off that 100. Holly [Mather] coming in first year contract, she's been up and down but all she wanted today was to get ball and she got that one so the lift that she's going to get from that performance today to go into the final is massive."
The Tactix and Mystics meet in the grand final on Sunday at 4pm in Auckland.
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