News
The Southern Steel are determined to bounce back from their disappointing season opener when they return home to ILT Stadium Southland on Saturday.
The Invercargill-based team suffered a crushing 13-goal defeat to the Mainland Tactix in the first round of the ANZ Premiership, but head coach Wendy Frew believes her side will produce a much stronger performance against the Northern Stars.
"Everyone is putting in the hard yards. Our focus has been ball retention and just finding ways to create turnovers," Frew said.
The Steel have spent the week addressing the issues that plagued their opening match, particularly their high turnover rate and defensive connections.
"We learned a lot from the Tactix game. Obviously, we were disappointed in our performance and we can do a lot better than that, but the main learnings for us as an attack unit is just to connect and keep to our structures," Frew explained.
"We had a really high turnover count so it's about cherishing that ball and really keeping that possession with ball in hand. Defensively, we weren't quite connected at times and probably just needed to alter our setups and structures throughout the game."
Despite the heavy loss, Frew found some positives to build on.
"Really happy with our first and second phase. We got some great depth on that and onto that circle edge with some nice positioning," she said.
"Carys (Stythe) is always grinding it out and getting us lots of touches. And when we committed to our CPD structures we gained ball, but at times we didn't so a big learning there."
The Stars will present their own challenges after winning their opening match, but Frew believes the Steel can get their season back on track with the right approach.
"What it will take to beat the Stars is us committing to our structures and being on the same page attack-wise and d-wise. Just working for each other – every single loose ball we're hungry, we're active on d, we're running clean lines on attack. Just that general belief in each other and that we can get it over the line," she said.
"We do have a lot of respect for the Stars. They have a very good line up and they've come off a win so they'll certainly be confident after their first game performance."
The return to their home fortress could provide the boost the Steel need, with Frew hoping for strong local support.
"The girls are really excited to play at home. We know the crowd is our eighth player when it matters most. They are always so committed. They show up for us and they're incredibly loyal," Frew said.
"To be able to play at home in front of our fans and families will be really special. For those players who haven't actually played at Stadium Southland before, they hear the others talking about how cool it is, how loud the crowd is and how awesome the atmosphere is so they are looking forward to that."
With the pressure mounting early in the season, Frew knows the importance of Saturday's match.
"We're really hoping Southland get behind us and we get a great crowd there to really lift us so we can bank those three points that we really need. We can't afford to start the season with losses on the board or we'll be chasing our tail and relying on other results like we did last year. So for us, it's really key that we put a good performance in and live up to our potential."
The match kicks off at 4pm on Saturday at ILT Stadium Southland. Tickets are available at southernsteel.co.nz.