Taurua pleased with netball pre-season

Mar 6, 2016 - 4:45 AM Southern Steel coach Noeline Taurua is cautiously optimistic after her trans-Tasman netball team completed three pre-season matches in Ashburton this weekend with mixed results.

Beaten 61-49 by the New Zealand men's team, the Steel downed the Tactix 64-47 on Saturday before backing up on Sunday with a 54-60 loss to the Tactix.

Taurua said the matches had shown the areas the Steel needed to work on.

"We did lose a couple of games but there's heart out there. You have to lose at some stage because even though it's not a great feeling, it's often after the fact that you really see what a team is made of."

The Steel's opening trans-Tasman league game against Northern Mystics is just three weeks away.

After losing last week's pre-season hit-out against the Magic 84-71, Central Pulse improved to pip Northern Mystics 71-70 on Sunday.

Slow out of the blocks, the Pulse gathered momentum to produce a fast-paced and entertaining spectacle in a six-spell match which featured numerous personnel and positional changes.

Pulse defender Phoenix Karaka didn't play, ruled out in a precautionary move after suffering a slight knee knock earlier in the week.

The Pulse have their final run at the Pre Season Shootout in Sydney on March 18-20 before their season opener against the Magic on April 4.

Source: AAP