George Heagney17:15, May 07 2021
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Kaleece Potts-Broughton of Manukura Black, centre left, soars high above Rāhui’s Maraea Murray during their clash at the Arena.
NETBALL: It was an up-and-down week for Manukura Black in the club competition. Manukura Black started the week with a 50-36 win over Manukura Red at Massey University on Monday morning, a game postponed from the week before. But they were brought back to earth in round four of the club competition at the Arena on Tuesday night, losing 50-43 to Rāhui. There is one more week left of the first round and at the end of the round, the bottom team in the premier grade will play the top team in premier reserve to decide who qualifies for the premier grade second round.
George Heagney10:26, Apr 30 2021
GEORGE HEAGNEY/Stuff
Rahui shooter Malia Muliaga takes a shot against Feilding A1 at the Arena on Tuesday night.
NETBALL: Rāhui should be a force in the Manawatū club competition this season based on their latest performance. Rāhui beat Feilding A2 73-50 at the Arena, Palmerston North, on Tuesday night in the third round of the club competition. It was Rāhui’s second win of the season and has them second, with Feilding equal on points in third. Unbeaten Massey are on top. Rāhui’s sharp shooting combination between sisters Sia and Maila Muliaga led the way, with quick ball movement on the circle edge giving Sia plenty of ball under the hoop.
“We’ve got experience in the team and I think that was coming through and showing.” He said their defensive end was working well and getting the ball to the other end of the court. Massey led 35-17 at halftime and were helped by Manukura losing key defender Tahlia Runga to injury. Atkins, who is also an assistant coach for the Central Manawa team in the Beko League, said their shooters had been doing well in the first two weeks and shot at about 90 per cent on Tuesday Manukura Red and Manukura Black were in the unfamiliar spot of both having two losses from two games, but Atkins said they would come back strongly as the season went on.
“I think the girls maybe ran out of a bit of steam.” She was pleased with the performance though, after they had been down by two after the first quarter, but turned the tables to lead 20-17 at halftime. Feilding s short passing and shooters getting into space at the top of the circle worked well. Shooters Abby Daniel and Chantelle Smith didn’t have the best night, both shooting about 68 per cent, but did enough to keep them in front of Manukura. Defenders Sam Higgins and Grace Keyes-Kumeroa were Feilding’s standout players. In a rare occurrence, both Manukura sides had losses on the night, as last year’s champions