Mystics Grace Nweke with Pulse's captain Kelly Jackson during the ANZ Premiership Grand Final. Photo: Marty Melville / Photosport
It was the nail-biting grand final that the ANZ Premiership needed but it was a tough one to take for the Pulse.
The Mystics won back-to-back ANZ Premiership titles last night, with a dramatic last-ditch goal from Grace Nweke giving them a 54-53 win over the Pulse in Wellington.
It was in complete contrast to the 18 and 19 goal margins in the last two grand-finals of New Zealand's domestic netball competition.
The Pulse were up by one goal when shooter Amelia Walmsley missed a shot with one minute left in the game.
The Mystics then sent the ball down court quickly, and scored with 41 seconds left and their centre pass to come.
Mystics shooter Nweke then slotted the goal at her second attempt with a couple of seconds left on the clock to break the hearts of the Pulse fans.
Mystics captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson could replay the last few minutes of the game in her head.
"I very vividly remember Carys [Stythe] getting the rebound and passing it out and then looking up at the clock. I think we just got lucky with the time that was left in the game," Sokolich-Beatson said.
Mystics Peta Toeava (L) with Pulse's Fa'amu Ioane during the ANZ Premiership Grand Final. Photo: Marty Melville / Photosport
To add to the drama, a few minutes into the final quarter, defender Phoenix Karaka was suspended for two minutes for dangerous play and the Mystics had to play with six.
Sokolich-Beatson said they just had to get on with it.
"The only thing the team needed from me was to keep doing my job and poor Kat [Katherine Hall] was left in there one on one but I think she did an amazing job, we actually haven't even practiced that at training ...I think she did a really good job."
Pulse co-captain Kelly Jackson said it was an incredible game to play in.
"Everyone out there was giving it their all and just playing minute by minute, pass by pass, because every pass was contested, the pressure was so high and those last five minutes a lot went on ...we were up, they were up and that's just finals netball," Jackson said.
Mystics coach Tia Winikerei said it was difficult at times to watch from the sideline.
"I was thinking how are we going to get there and there wasn't a lot of time left. What I do know about the team though is they know how to win and when I saw the opportunity [turnover] come up I was like right we're good, they'll get it there and they'll know what to do with it," Winikerei said.
An emotional Nweke was in disbelief that her side had pulled it off and in her post-match interview talked about the adversity the team had gone through.
The Mystics suffered a few losses in the middle of the season when the Silver Ferns' shooter was out injured, which again put the focus on the team's reliance on Nweke.
Mystics coach Tia Winikerei said Nweke carried a lot on her shoulders.
"She carries the weight in terms of coming back from injury and performing and being expected to perform and she's still very young.
"But her ability to lead herself in that space is exceptional and I'm really proud of her getting back out there with all the weight and the scrutiny that she sits under and she's done an exceptional job of just carrying on and doing the job that she needs to for her team," Winikerei said.
At one point the Mystics dropped to fourth on the ladder mid-season and Sokolich-Beatson said they had to have some tough conversations.
"There was a period there where we looked at each other and we had to go to a really dark place. And Tia asked me and Phoenix 'are you willing to hold true to our values?' and we said 'yeah we are' and she said 'so am I' and I think that was the turning point of our season.
"I think going through that allowed us to play a grand final and use our bench. I don't think if we went through that we would have been able to use as many people as we did and I don't think as many people would have been able to perform," Sokolich-Beatson said.
Pulse coach Anna Andrews-Tasola has had a wild ride in her first year as a head coach in the league and said she could not have asked for more from her players.
"When you compete in that type of environment to be able to walk away and know that you gave it everything that you possibly could and you had no regrets it does still hurt but super super proud of everyone's effort and the performance that they put out," Andrews-Tasola said.
The Pulse too had their share of challenges during the season, having to deal with a number of injuries.
"I'm just so proud that throughout the ups and downs we've been able to play some really consistent netball. I think going into this we'd only dropped three games which is incredible out of 15," Jackson said.
She said the team would get around Walmsley, who looked distraught after the loss.
"She's going to take a lot of weight on her shoulders but she doesn't deserve that weight. It was just one moment in a whole game of 60 minutes so she did an amazing job out there. When she came on she did her job, she stood up and she ripped lots of ball in and managed to stand up to their big defensive pressure."
The Mystics have now equalled the Pulse's record of three domestic netball titles.
