Jamaican import brings defensive strength to Mystics

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

The Northern Mystics welcomed the final member of their roster this week as they begin to ramp up their preparations for the ANZ Championship.

Jamaican defender Althea Byfield jetted into town on Thursday and was yesterday familiarising herself with the Mystics set-up.

This year will be Byfield's second stint in the transtasman league after turning out for the Central Pulse in 2009. There the talented defender was one of the top performers in an otherwise young and inexperienced team who finished bottom of the table for the second straight season.

At the Mystics, however, Byfield will be just one of a handful of seasoned internationals, with the Temepara George-led side making a number of handy acquisitions in the off-season, including Silver Ferns Maria Tutaia, Joline Henry and Larrissa Willcox.

Byfield said the idea of playing in a more experienced line-up, who at this stage look to be genuine play-off contenders, was appealing to her.

"The Mystics are a more professional organisation, within the group of girls they have quite a few players who have represented their country at senior level or under-21 level," said Byfield.

"It's always great to be a part of a team where everybody has the same outlook on the game and they have the same expectations and know their roles."

Byfield said she was particularly excited by the potential of her defensive combination with Henry and Willcox and believed they would be destructive.

"I think we'll be going places, that's all I'm going to say, we'll be going places."

 

 

Source: NZ Herald