Tasmanian Magpies make it nine in a row against Queensland Fusion

Coach Kate Upton was left nodding in appreciation and lauded more positives than negatives in the Tasmanians’ 60-53 win over Queensland Fusion at the Silverdome.

The 14-goal victory less than a day earlier had Upton grizzling over poor skill execution and decision-making.

But half the final margin this time was testimony to a Fusion game plan that came in surges over each quarter.

“We had to make sure we were mentally prepared to handle pressure,” Upton said.

“I think that is one thing we can tick this weekend is that we are just preparing ourselves to handle those situations better, mentally.”

The Tasmanians, except the first three minutes, never surrendered the lead all day.

The margins grew from two to five to seven over the breaks, only blowing it out to 10 goals in the dying minutes.

Ball control and transition from defence was cleaner, but so was the Fusion’s that spurred the Magpies to lift.

“It was certainly more our decision-making in attack – we wanted to be sure we had safer options,” Upton said.

“Our loss possession count was down because we made sure we worked as a team to have more workloads through the ball and I think they did that really well.”

Kelsie Rainbow was the star homegrown talent, the wing attack building on a top Saturday performance.

Behemoth Jane Cook added 42 goals from 48 shots on Sunday to her 46 off 50, proving a mountain too big for the Queenslanders to climb.

But Upton said the Fusion better prepared her side for the finals ahead coming off nine victories in a row.

“That was amazing pressure by them – they changed up their defensive structure, they’d be hard one-on-one, hands over pressure on every single ball,” Upton said.

“We just had to play really smart and safe netball, and ensure we had a front option.”