Harten To Captain Again

Harten To Captain Again

Media Release 7 April 2016

Jo Harten will again captain the Cold Power Magic in their round two ANZ Championship encounter with the NSW Swifts on Saturday, with Leana de Bruin not travelling to Sydney.

Harten says her approach hasn't changed after taking the captain's band this week.

"My game plan doesn't change much and this team really leads itself and we've got some great youngsters really pushing on and challenging to be leaders in this team which is great for us."

Leana de Bruin missed Monday night's opening match against the Central Pulse due to a foot injury sustained in pre-season and will be given more time to recover. Grace Rasmussen, who also sustained an injury in pre-season (to her calf) and played limited minutes on Monday night, will also stay in New Zealand.

Although the absence of de Bruin and Rasmussen will be significant, Harten says everyone will lift their performance a bit more.

"It will be a case of everyone stepping up and doing that extra one percent and having seven leaders out on court and really working together.

"They (NSW Swifts) were very slick against the Vixens last week and it was going to take a team performance anyway, and the Magic have always been a really strong team."

Ariana Cable-Dixon has been called into the team as a temporary replacement this weekend. Cable-Dixon is a member of the WBOP Beko Netball League team and has played for the WBOP U23 team in recent seasons. She was also called into the Cold Power Magic team for the ANZ Championship pre-season shootout tournament and performed well.

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