After a very short turnaround the Northern Mystics are back on the road, heading to
Rangiora to take on the Tactix in the opening match of round 4 this Saturday.

With both teams coming off very close wins in round 3, this is set to be an epic top of the
table clash.

It will be the first time these teams have met since last years Elimination Final, that the
Mystics won 68-64, and the Tactix will be out for revenge.

“They are a very talented side and one of the favourites to win the competition. It is going to
be a tough game in every position,” says Mystics Assistant coach, Rob Wright. “The Tactix
shooters have height everywhere and are very accurate on the shot. Their defence never let
us in and gives nothing away. Their midcourt has speed to burn and hustles hard at both
ends of the court.”

The Mystics head into Saturday’s match so far unbeaten in 2025, but with the uncomfortable
stat of not winning any opening quarters, something the team knows they need to improve
on this week, “Consistency across the match is going to be a key this weekend. We have got
off to slow starts…and cannot afford to be allowing the opposition to get a jump on us in any
match “ says Wright.

Especially with all teams settling into the new rules and building strategies around using
them, meaning that teams can gain and lose the ascendancy in matches very quickly.
Monday night’s one goal win over the Steel was a perfect example of this with Wright noting,
“The match only had seven super shots in total, four for us and three for the Steel. A quirk of
the game was that the two teams shot the identical number of goals, we just shot one more
super shot.”

With a sold out crowd in Rangiora the Tactix will be wanting to give fans something to cheer
about and the Mystics are under no illusion that this will be a tough match but Wright says,
“Nothing is guaranteed, we just need to keep getting better each week. Getting off to a better
start would be great for us, but then maintaining that throughout.”

“They (Tactix) are one of the competition favourites for a reason and it should be a great
contest.”

This is one match not to be missed!

Tactix v Mystics
Saturday 31st May
Main Power Stadium, Rangiora
4pm
Live – TV2 and TVNZ+