IN a new series, Draft Central casts an eye over the top performer from the round taking into account now only their individual stats but their overall impact on the game. Round 2 of the ANZ Premiership saw a number of key players, lead the way for their respective teams and put their best foot forward. But in the end it was Peta Toeava that walked away with the title of Player of the Round.

After somewhat of a quiet Round 1 performance by her lofty standards, the Mystics wing attack took the game by the scruff of the neck and impressed with her read of the play and bullet like passes into the circle. Her clever fakes into the circle often caught the defenders off guard while her balance to deliver the ball off one foot was second to none, as she set tongues wagging with her dynamic style of play. Toeava was not afraid to take the game on, backing in her skill to bypass the opposition defenders and provide silver service to the likes of Grace Nweke and Bailey Mes. Her timing in and around the circle was also impressive as she lit up the court with her speed especially on the take off.

Toeava displayed her netball smarts to work the ball around the circle edge and constantly re-position to claim prime feeding position. Her give and go in the attacking third allowed Mes to drop into the circle and take some of the load off the likes of Nweke under the post which in turn enabled the Mystics to put up a competitive score. Toeava’s efforts also complemented the style of play in which Tayla Earle plays with the young up and coming centre more defensive minded than her midcourt partner.

The wing attack shouldered the load in attack racking up a round high 31 goal assists from 43 feeds highlighting her dominance and impressive spatial awareness to execute well-weighted passes. She never looked frazzled in attack, confident to work the ball around the court and was incredibly strong at the centre pass picking up 20 centre pass receives to keep her side ticking along. Up against the likes of developing defenders Renee Savai’inaea and Kate Heffernan, Toeava’s experience came to the fore as she used her smarts to out manoeuvre them and use her footspeed to get off the body and drop into the pockets when need be.

Other contenders for Player of the Week included teammate, Nweke given her strong performance under the post and prolific nature under the post while Central Pulse defender, Kelly Jury was impressive with her six gains, four intercepts and two rebounds but just fell short of the mantle due to her 21 penalties.