By Jamie Marcuson
The NSW Swifts are peaking at the right time as they look to secure top spot in the Australian conference with just two games to go in the ANZ Championship.
After a comprehensive 14-goal victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds last weekend – inspired by a spectacular performance by Susan Pettitt – the Swifts travel to New Zealand on Sunday to take on the third-placed Northern Mystics, before a showdown with the New Zealand conference's top-placed Southern Steel.
Pettitt said the Swifts "are clicking at a really good time".
"We started the season really well and people were saying 'maybe they've peaked too early', but I feel like the Swifts have really been building," she said. "We've shown over a long season that we have plenty of depth and plenty of options out there, so we can deal with what any of the teams throw at us."
In form: NSW Swifts sharpshooter Susan Pettitt against the Northern Mystics earlier this season.Credit: Murray Wilkinson
Pettitt, who scored 36 goals from 37 attempts against the Thunderbirds, said the Swifts were firmly focused on the Mystics before their mouth-watering encounter with the Steel in the final round of the regular season.
"It's such a cliche, but we really are taking it one game at a time," she said. "The Mystics are a really quality side, they've got some really strong international players in their team, and when they come to play, they really come to play.
"So for us, we know that we're going home to play Steel the week after, but for now we're trying to keep our focus as much as we can on Mystics."
Pettitt dominated against Adelaide, but put her incredible shooting down to the hard work of her goal-shooting partner Caitlin Thwaites.
"I thought Caitie did a really good job taking some of the defensive pressure [off me]," she said. "They probably focused on her a little bit more in the game, which allowed me to step up and take the shooting responsibilities.
"I think that the beauty of our partnership is that the defenders can't defend one player, they need to defend both of us, otherwise one of us steps up. I think Caitie took a lot of that brunt for the first half so I had the ability to score goals."
Swifts captain Kim Green has trained with the team all week and travelled to Auckland, but will have to pass a fitness test before making her return to the court.
The win over the Thunderbirds guaranteed the Swifts a spot in the finals. Pettitt is confident they will get the job done and take top spot in the conference now that it is in their hands.
"We now have the ability to come in at No.1 and that is purely what we want to try and do," she said. "If we can come in at No.1 that does give us an advantage. We need to win these two games to do that. It is in our control."