Tactix tempt Aussie club for series

Facing three Aussie teams in the opening four rounds of the ANZ Championship has fuelled Helen Mahon-Stroud's determination to mount a pre-emptive strike.

After facing the Central Pulse in their opening championship game at the Westpac Arena on March 22, the Tactix play the West Coast Fever in Perth.

That will be followed by fixtures against the NSW Swifts and Melbourne Vixens back home in Christchurch.

Eager to do all they can to prepare their players for the Australian onslaught in rounds two to four, the Tactix have organised for the Eastwood Ryde, a New South Wales state premier league team, to join the Southern Steel in a three-way tournament at Pioneer Stadium in Christchurch this weekend.

"We really need to include Australian teams in our competition so we get the opportunity to get on court and play in that style of game.

"So we invited the Eastwood Ryde to come here and play in Christchurch," Mahon-Stroud said.

The Tactix will play two games on Saturday and two on Sunday and gold coin donations will be enough for the public to see what the Christchurch-based team could be capable of this season.

A captain to replace Julie Seymour has yet to be named, with Mahon-Stroud content to wait until a few weeks out from the opening round before making a decision as to who will replace the veteran Silver Fern.

Seymour is nursing her two-week old baby but is set to return to the Tactix management as Mahon-Stroud's assistant.

The Tactix, who began their training in early November and started on-court training on January 11, have six newcomers and Stroud-Mahon has loaded up the pre-season calendar with "friendlies" to understand how the players operate both home and away.

"Last year was not ideal, we were limited in the number of pre-season games we were able to attend so this year we have really set about looking at a comprehensive programme to give the players the chance to prepare themselves for competition pressures."

Two weeks after this weekend's tournament the Tactix travel to Queenstown to play an Australian Institute of Sport team, the Queensland Firebirds, Northern Mystics and the Pulse and will meet the Steel in Dunedin on March 13.

Last year the Tactix finished sixth in the 10-team competition, winning five of their 13 matches.

Meanwhile, former Southern Sting defender Jo Cunningham has been appointed assistant coach of the Southern Steel.

Since retiring from the elite ranks, Cunningham has expanded her coaching resume to include the Sting development team and the Southland Under-19 team.

Under her guidance, Southland secured the Lois Muir Challenge silverware last year which earned Cunningham the Netball Southland Coach of the Year Award.

Cunningham takes over from former Canterbury Flames coach Marg Foster who has stepped down. Foster was Robyn Broughton's assistant last season.

- © Fairfax NZ News