Even the Weather Can’t Dampen Haier Pulse’s Spirit

Media Release
21 June 2013

Even the Weather Can’t Dampen Haier Pulse’s Spirit

Who would have predicted that the weather would prove to be as big a challenge as the one facing the Haier Pulse in the final round of the 2013 ANZ Championship?

Cancellations, flight changes and a lack of electricity are just a few of the obstacles getting in the way of the team’s travel plans to Invercargill for their game on Sunday evening. Not to mention that the girls need to beat the Southern Steel by a huge margin and are reliant on the Vixens and Magic losing their matches.

For Haier Pulse and former Steel wing attack, Liana Leota, this is the first time she has been back to Southland since her move to the UK in 2011. “It will be quite nice to see familiar faces amongst the fans. It’s a very exciting time for me to go back there and it will be good to play in the Velodrome.”

The news from the south is that the game is sold out, which clearly demonstrates huge local interest in the race to secure at the very least fifth place overall. “The fans are very passionate, they are away from a lot of things so sport is huge. You walk down the street and you’re like a big star. It’s really crazy. I really enjoyed being in Invercargill, just living and breathing netball,” explained Leota.

The former ANZ Championship MVP is enjoying her time with her new team. “It’s been a nice change to be in the Haier Pulse environment. Wellington is so big, there’s so much happening. I’ve loved it and for me personally I feel like I’ve grown as a player. I suppose I’ve matured, so I’ve really enjoyed that aspect of it, and the girls have been wonderful.”

The intense end to the season is still tinged with disappointment for Leota, who is quick to point out how much she regrets the one-goal extra time loss to the Mystics and the four-goal defeat to the Magic earlier in the campaign. “You know it’s just been that Mystics game and that Magic game that really bug me, knowing we could have taken them, but overall it’s been a successful season for the Haier Pulse, especially for the franchise.

“I think everyone’s grown and we’ve really grown as a team. There are times that we should have won games, but it has only been little mistakes. The Pulse in the past has lost games by 20 or 30, so for me it’s keeping those margins close and being a competitive franchise. We should have been in the top four this season, but you know, fingers crossed, we’ll get there next year,” she concluded.

The Haier Pulse play the Southern Steel at Stadium Southland on Sunday 23 June at 7.20pm.

Keep up to date with all the latest news from the Haier Pulse by logging on to www.pulse.org.nz, www.facebook.com/Haier.Pulse and twitter @HaierPulse.

Match reports and statistics are also available from www.anz-championship.com
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