The Northern Mystics produced the kind of finish that wins titles, clawing back from the brink in Invercargill on Sunday to beat the Southern Steel 61-53 after extra time and move into a share of top spot in the ANZ Premiership with two rounds of the regular season to play.
For most of the afternoon at the Steel’s southern fortress, the home side looked set to register the win their finals push needed. The teams were locked together at 52 all when the final whistle sounded, forcing two three minute periods of extra time in only the second such finish of the 2026 campaign. From there the Mystics simply refused to miss, outscoring the Steel 9-1 across the extra six minutes to seize the result and, just as importantly, deny the Steel a bonus point that would have kept them within touching distance at the head of the table.
At the heart of the Auckland side’s revival was shooter Maia Wilson, who finished with 44 goals from 47 attempts in a commanding display under the post. Filda Vui chipped in with 13 to keep the scoreboard ticking, while defenders Phoenix Karaka and Charlotte Manley turned the screw at the other end, hounding the Steel’s shooters into rushed releases when the margins were tightest. It was that defensive pressure in extra time, more than any single moment of attacking brilliance, that decided the contest.
The Steel could hold their heads high despite the loss. Goal shoot Aliyah Dunn was close to faultless, sinking 46 of her 48 attempts including a clutch two pointer when the game hung in the balance, and Georgia Heffernan added seven in support. The hosts had been forced into a late reshuffle after captain Kimiora Poi was ruled out with a calf injury, with Queensland midcourter Jessie Laga’aia flown in and thrown straight into the fray after a single training session.
Steel coach Wendy Frew was generous in defeat. “We’ll go back to the drawing board,” she told RNZ, before singling out her emergency recruit for praise. “I want to give a shout-out to Jessie,” Frew said of Laga’aia, who slotted into an unfamiliar system at almost no notice and helped drag the contest to extra time.
The result reshapes the run home. The Mystics now sit level at the top of the standings with the defending champion Mainland Tactix, the two sides setting the pace as the competition narrows to its final fortnight before a two match finals series decides the silverware. For a Mystics outfit that has flirted with the top of the table all season without quite nailing it down, claiming a result of this character away from home, against a side that has made life difficult for them in the past, will do plenty for the belief in the group.
The Steel, for their part, remain well placed even after letting this one slip. They hold a six point cushion over the third placed Northern Stars, leaving them firmly on course for a spot in the elimination final. What this loss costs them is the chance to climb higher and earn the more favourable finals path that comes with it. With only two rounds remaining, every bonus point and every percentage point now carries weight, and the difference between second and third could come down to results in matches the Steel are not even playing in.
Extra time finishes are still a relative novelty in the ANZ Premiership, and the competition’s bonus point system gives them an added edge. A team that loses inside the standard four quarters can still bank a point for keeping the margin tight, which keeps the pressure on the leaders right to the final whistle and beyond. By blowing the game open in the extra periods, the Mystics made sure the Steel walked away with nothing, a small detail on the night that could loom large when the final ladder is settled.
It has been a season of fine margins across the league, with the gap between the top sides and the chasing pack narrow enough that a single result can rearrange the order. The Tactix have carried the authority of champions, the Mystics have found their best form at the right time, and the Steel have shown the resilience to grind out results even when key players are missing. The Te WΔnanga o Raukawa Pulse, by contrast, have endured a lean year and sit well off the pace, a reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn in a competition this tight.
The two rounds that remain now shape as a genuine scrap for seeding, with the finals series to follow. On this evidence the Mystics will fancy their chances of carrying their momentum deep into the playoffs, while the Steel will be desperate to make sure a loss like this does not become the moment their season turned.
Did the Mystics just lay down a marker for the finals, or do you fancy the Tactix or the Steel to have the last word? Drop your call in the comments below and tell us who you have lifting the title.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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