The Northern Mystics face the Southern Steel in Saturday night's ANZ Premiership grand final in Auckland, seeking a record fourth competition title.
The match marks the Mystics' fifth grand final in six seasons, but comes after last year's loss to the Mainland Tactix ended their bid for three consecutive championships. The Mystics were strong favourites after topping the regular season before last year's decider, but the Tactix claimed their first title.
This year the Mystics again finished on top of the ladder, earning an extra week to prepare for the final.
Mystics captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson said the team has learned from both winning and losing grand finals. "We've been in grand finals where we've won, we've been in grand finals where we've lost, we've learnt probably a lot from both of them," she said. "I think the biggest thing for us is just staying present, in the moment and enjoying the occasion."
Coach Tia Winikerei said the team has chosen to do things differently this year based on lessons from the 2025 finals series. "It's not always a blessing to have the week off but it does depend on the season you've had," Winikerei said. "It's important to be able to carry momentum through a time when you don't actually have a competition match, unlike the opposition."
Assistant coach Rob Wright said the coaching staff worked to change their preparation in the final weeks to put the team under more pressure. "We thought last year we probably didn't prepare our team well enough and Tactix came out and were stunningly good, we just got out played," Wright said.
The Mystics ended the regular season with extra-time wins over both the Tactix and Steel. The squad includes 70-test Silver Fern Phoenix Karaka, who rejoined the team this year after stepping away last season for the birth of her second child.