Critical Moments Will Count For Mojo Pulse

Critical Moments Will Count For Mojo Pulse

Media Release
22 May 2015

Assistant Coach Frances Solia is hoping for a repeat result when the Mojo Pulse come up against the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in Hamilton this Monday.

The two teams last met in round five at home, in front of a packed TSB Bank Arena. The Pulse came away with a 49-38 win, and although the Magic have won 11 out of the 15 outings between the sides, it’s the Pulse who have won the last three.

“I thought we looked really good when we last met, we looked focused, we stuck with our game plan and we denied the Magic the opportunity to win,” said Solia.

Solia captained the Pulse in the ANZ Championship’s inaugural season in 2008 before transferring to the Magic for three years. During her playing career she has made 52 ANZ Championship appearances and also played 70 tests for Samoa, but these days she sees the game through different eyes now she has taken up a seat on the coaches’ bench.

“It’s all very different moving from being a player to a coach. As a coach you have to analyse everything and you’ve got to make sure you contribute in the quarter breaks. It’s a bit different when you’re playing because as a player you’re always in that moment,” she explained.

After coaching her local Kapi-Mana team, the move to an ANZ Championship side has been a huge step up. “It’s been a nice learning curve for me and having Rob there, as such an experienced coach, has really helped me to develop those crucial coaching skills.

“During a game I focus on the attacking end, having been an attacking player, especially the mid-courters and what they’re offering to our shooters, are they presenting themselves, are they putting the ball into good space?”

Solia believes the Pulse’s issues lie in those key moments and it’s something Solia and the team have been looking closely at in training. “During a critical moment, are the players calm when they’re feeding, are they putting the ball into the right space? We’ve just got to able to nail them.

“When we look at the video footage, and in our debriefs, we acknowledge that we need to do that and we know that we haven’t been able to do that very well during our games.

“Come Monday night, it will be ‘this is a really critical moment’ we know that we can deliver it, we need to get the ball down, we need to be able to shoot and we need to get the goals in.”

The Mojo Pulse play the WBOP Magic this Monday at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton. Centre pass is at 7.40pm.

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