2023 ANZ Premiership | Round 2 preview: Plenty of questions already
AFTER an exciting opening round last weekend, the ANZ Premiership is back for Round 2. If the opening exchanges taught us anything at all, it is that the 2022 pecking order means nothing in 2023.
For example, take the Tactix. They finished last in 2022 and made a lot of changes in the offseason, but last week came out and dominated the Stars to pick up the win.
This week they face the Mystics, who offer a much steeper challenge and the perfect barometer of where the Tactix are really at this early stage. If they are competitive against the Mystics or even manage to beat them, that will send some warning shots to the rest of the competition.
This match will be quite the shoot off, with Grace Nweke featuring up one end and Aliyah Dunn at the other.
It is also a big weekend for the Steel, who unlike the rest of the competition are scheduled for two matches.
Not only do they have two matches, but they have to travel for both. First up it is a trip to Wellington take on the Pulse tomorrow, then it is off to Auckland on Monday to take on the Stars.
It will be either a chance to create an early break on the competition or they will fall even further behind the rest of the competition.
Either way, the Steel will certainly be hoping to at least come out of the weekend unscathed on the injury front.
The weekend’s action starts tomorrow afternoon in Tauranga with the other match on the fixture between the Magic and the Stars. Two round one losers are set to battle it out for their first win of the season and to write the wrongs of last weekend.
The Stars in particular will have to watch out for Maddy Gordon, who was dangerous last weekend and was a star despite the result for her team.
ANZ Premiership Round 2 Fixture (All times local)
Saturday March 11 – 4:10pm – Magic vs Stars – Trustpower Arena, Tauranga
Saturday March 11 – 7:15pm – Pulse vs Steel – TSB Arena, Wellington
Sunday March 12 – 4:10pm – Tactix vs Mystics – Christchurch Arena, Christchurch
Monday March 13 – 7:35pm – Stars vs Steel – Pulman Arena, Auckland
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