Fourth quarter: Mystics 47 Magic 40
Tui has 5/5 for the half, as Mystics complete an all-the-way victory over Magic to resume their ANZ Premiership campaign after the coronavirus shutdown.
While the scores were level at 16-16 in the second quarter, but Magic were unable to capitalise on their best periods of play and fell away towards the end.
Nweke emerged as the dominant shooter with 41/45 (91 percent), while Latu-Meafou surpassed McPhee as Magic's best with 14/18 (78 percent).
10 min: Mystics 44 Magic 36
Magic can't put together a run to close the gap, as McPhee's shooting touch deserts her.
8 min: Mystics 42 Magic 35
Tui converts her fourth goal from as many attempts and appeals as an able sidekick for Nweke in the circle.
Nweke is whistled for holding her marker.
6 min: Mystics 40 Magic 33
Magic have brought Mikaere to goal defence, with Georgia Tong inserted at goal keep, charged with stopping Nweke.
The giant Mystics shooter slots two quick goals, so no big challenge for her, despite the change.
4 min: Mystics 38 Magic 32
Three straight goals and the Mystics are charging away in the final quarter.
2 min: Mystics 36 Magic 31
Turnovers again plague the teams, but Nweke continues to dominate.
Souness begins the quarter for Magic - their fourth restart of the game.
Third quarter: Mystics 34 Magic 30
Magic can't quite draw level and Mystics quickly extend their margin just before the break.
McPhee has lost her shooting touch and has now slipped to 71 percent (20/28), while Nweke continues to monster her attack circle with 31/35 (89 percent) shooting.
10 min: Mystics 30 Magic 29
Magic are being thumped in the penalty count 22-10, but they have a chance to draw even again. A turnover costs them that chance.
8 min: Mystics 29 Magic 27
This is settling into a nailbiter, but Tui is already showing better shooting touch than her predecessor.
6 min: Mystics 26 Magic 25
Magic midcourt starting to look more settled and they claw back within one with three straight goals.
4 min: Mystics 26 Magic 22
McPhee misses again, but Latu-Meafou rebounds and scores. Next time down the court, Karaka gets a nice block on McPhee.
2 min: Mystics 24 Magic 21
Tui slots her first attempt, a nice nerve-settler, but McPhee keeps the Magic in contact.
Whitney Souness has gone to centre and Cable-Dixon to wing attack for the Magic. Saviour Tui has replaed Grapes in the Mystics circle.
Souness has the centre pass-off.
Second quarter: Mystics 22 Magic 18
Nweke is monstering the Magic defence, but finding little support from Grapes, whose shooting action is anything but smooth.
McPhee has now had two misses (13/15) - the second was just near the end of the quarter - but Mystics have taken five more attempts for their four-goal lead.
Both teams need to tidy their passage up court, although Toeava has made 19 successful feeds into the circle - most to Nweke, who has shot 21/24.
10 min: Mystics 21 Magic 17
McPhee's first miss, after 12 successes, is rebounded by Latu-Meafou to score. Mikaere is making her presence felt further down court with another intercept.
8 min: Mystics 18 Magic 16
Five straight goals draw the Magic level, with McPhee still perfect (12/12). A couple of costly turnovers allow the Mystics to edge clear again.
6 min: Mystics 16 Magic 15
Toeava is whistled for breaking from the centre pass and Magic capitalise for three straight goals to close the margin. Mikaere intercepts and the margin is one.
4 min: Mystics 16 Magic 11
Magic draw within one goal, but Nweke slots four straight goals to extend the Mystics lead to five goals.
2 min: Mystics 12 Magic 10
Cohesion between Toeava and Nweke the story of the game so far, with the Magic defence struggling to stop that feed.
Cable-Dixon to pass off again for the Magic.
First quarter: Mystics 11 Magic 8
Grapes converts an awkward high shot for her first goal of the night. Nweke can't get her shot off before the end of the quarter, with Mystics leading by three.
Turnovers have been the story of the game so far, with 16 possession changes and the Magic giving the ball away nine times.
McPhee is a perfect 6/6 in the Magic attack circle, but Mystics enjoying far more attempts, with Nweke successful on 10/12.
10 min: Mystics 9 Magic 7
Toeava lobs the ball high into the circle and avoids Mikaere's desparing lunge - easy pickings for Nweke. Meanwhile, McPhee is a perfect 6/6 under the goal for Magic.
8 min: Mystics 8 Magic 6
Both teams still struggling to control possession and Magic clawing their way back into the contest.
6 min: Mystics 6 Magic 4
Mystics feeders are finding Nweke under the goal, but Grapes misses her first attempt.
4 min: Mystics 4 Magic 2
Nweke slots four goals before Latu-Meafou finally responds for Magic.
2 min: Mystics 2 Magic 0
A hesitant start from both sides sees the Magic turn the ball over twice and Nweke miss her first shot, before slotting two for an early lead.
Centre-pass: Magic's Ariana Cable-Dixon gets the game underway.
Just repeating one key rule change for the revamped premiership - quarters have been reduced from 15 minutes to 12 minutes to help accommodate a compressed schedule that will feature regular doubleheaders.
*****
Starting line-ups for tonight's Magic v Mystics clash are as follows:
Magic: GS-Kelsey McPhee, GA-Abigail Latu-Meafou, WA-Whitney Souness, C-Ariana Cable-Dixon, WD-Sam Winders, GD-Holly Fowler, GK-Erena Mikaere
Mystics: GS-Grace Nweke, GA-Ahser Grapes, WA-Peta Toeava, C-Tayla Earle, WD-Emily Burgess, GD-Phoenix Karaka, GK-Sulu Fitzpatrick
*****
BREAKING NEWS: Invercargill has been named as the venue for this year's ANZ Premiership finals, signalling Netball NZ's confidence in taking games outside the Auckland 'bubble' after coronavirus lockdown.
This week, the national body made the decision to take games back to home venues, rather than fly teams to the Auckland Netball Centre each week. From July 30, the scheduled will change to the traditional home-and-away format.
After losing their season-opener to WBOP Magic, the Steel now face the task of returning to playoffs, after winning the title two years ago, but falling in the elimination final last season.
*****
Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the ANZ Premiership clash between Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and Northern Mystics at the Auckland Netball Centre.
This will mark the national competition's return from a three-month hiatus during the coronavirus lockdown, with both teams eager to pick up where they left off after winning their season-openers in March.
The Mystics began their 2020 campaign with a 59-55 victory over crosstown rivals Northern Stars, who were beaten finalists last season. They achieved that result without the services of Silver Ferns shooter Bailey Mes, who has since undergone knee surgery and will miss the entire season.
In her place, the Mystics will lean heavily on an attacking circle of teenagers, led by 18-year-old Grace Nweke, a shining light of their 2019 squad.
Meanwhile, the Magic overcame Southern Steel 54-48 in the final game before lockdown. They will also miss Australian Georgia Marshall, who returned across the Tasman to spend lockdown with her family and hasn't been able to return in time to resume the season with her team.
WBOP Magic: Ariana Cable-Dixon, Holly Fowler, Abigail Latu-Meafou, Jenna O'Sullivan, Georgia Marshall, Kelsey McPhee, Erena Mikaere, Whitney Souness, Georgia Tong, Samantha Winders
Northern Mystics: Emily Burgess, Tayla Earle, Courtney Elliott, Sulu Fitzpatrick, Asher Grapes, Dani Gray, Emma Iverson, Phoenix Karaka, Grace Nweke, Pete Toeava, Saviour Tui, Filda Vui
Centre pass is timed for 7pm.
Magic's Australian recruit Georgia Marshall stranded back home
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic have been left frustrated at the New Zealand immigration process that's left one of their squad members stranded in Australia.
Shooter Georgia Marshall has applied four times to enter the country without success.
"It's been a bit of a struggle," Marshall tells Newshub.
"Knowing all the girls are back there and training, and basically all together and into the swing of things, and I'm trying to keep up with the same sessions on my own, with a bit of help from mum and dad - it's just not the same," Marshall laughs.
Marshall returned home to Australia to spend lockdown with her family - a decision that was made in conjunction with the Magic coaches and staff.
But since New Zealand has come out of lockdown and a return to the ANZ Premiership became evident, the Magic have tried to get Marshall back.
As an Australian citizen with a New Zealand working visa, Marshall meets the criteria to enter the country.
She's been approved by Australian immigration to leave the country, but New Zealand immigration has denied the 23-year-old's applications twice.
Her other two applications have received no feedback and when Newshub spoke to her, she planned to put in another application that day.
"It's been very frustrating," Marshall says. "I check my phone every morning to see if there's an email, then I just go on with my day."
The process has left those back in New Zealand scratching their heads as well.
"It's a process that isn't very opaque." Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty chief executive Rohan West tells Newshub. "You can't see through it and find out where she is in the process
"Has she got five people in front of her? Ten people? A thousand people?
"That's the really frustrating thing, it's hard to understand what the process is and the timelines.
"I don’t underestimate the process, but just a little bit more transparency and being able to understand the process would be nice," West says.
West has tried to reach out to the Sports Minister Grant Robertson and Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway, but to no avail.
With all arrivals still required to quarantine for 14 days, Marshall will already miss the Magic's opening game against the Mystics.
If the Australian native doesn't arrive in the country by Friday, she'll miss their second game against the Tactix as well.
One of the Magic's development players will fill the void in the interim.
"She was our third shooter and that's all we had," coach Amigene Metcalfe says.
"If anything happens to any of our shooters, she's just got a little bit of extra experience, she's got time on the court with our team and did a whole pre-season with us."
Despite the frustrations, neither Metcalfe nor Marshall regret the decision to spend lockdown with family.
"At the end of the day, this is a game and that was about your wellbeing and being supported by family," Metcalfe says.
The players feel for Marshall's situation. They're doing their best to keep her involved and spirits high.
"I'm in charge of sending her a little video after every training, so that she gets it from here [the training facility], not just a wee message later with a rundown of what we did," captain Sam Winders says.
"Hopefully, it might make her smile and get her even more excited about coming back," she adds.
Marshall is ready to come back. She jokes she was ready two months ago.
"I've been so used to telling my family, ''I'll be leaving soon, I'll be leaving really really soon'."
"I've been saying that for the past two months and they say 'you're still here'."
Hopefully, for Marshall and the Magic, that'll change very soon.
