Erikana Pederson: Tactix Captain on 100 games with the team, clash against the Pulse

With the preliminary rounds complete, the Tactix are set for their sudden death match against the Pulse. 

The winner will face off against the Mystics in the grand final of the ANZ Premiership. 

Tomorrow’s clash will see Erikana Pederson suit up in the red and black for the 100th time – a major milestone for a player who’s had her fair share of frustrations along the way. 

She joined Lesley Murdoch for a chat about her journey to date, and a look ahead at tomorrow’s clash. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ericana. Wow, one hundredth game this weekend. How called what
a milestone?

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yeah, thanks, Lezie. It is a milestone. Only just found
out yesterday, so that was a bit of a surprise.
Playing hundred games in the Red and Black is an honor, honestly.
That individually, Yeah, my journey has been a bit of
a roller coaster, you know, a few injuries here and there,
but I guess have shown a little bit of resilience
in coming back. And yeah, I'm just very very proud

(00:26):
and seeing is how many you know, legends of the
game have played in the red and black dress, So.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, very happy. Do you remember the first.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yes, I do. Actually I remember the first few years,
and not in a good way, honestly, Leslie. And I
think we've come a long way as a franchise since
the first year that I arrived, So very proud in
that aspect as well.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Do you think that your performances during the course of
your one hundred matches has kind of mirrored where Tactics
have come from.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, that's actually a really good way of putting it.
I think in the beginning, I think Tactics have always
had a great culture off the court, especially, but probably
have only just got used to a winning culture within
the franchise. Yeah, this week will be a great opportunity
to continue that winning mindset.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Talk through your thoughts after last week.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
First, obviously very disappointed. As much as I'm disappointed about
the loss, I'm also disappointed in the product that we
put out there. That's not the brand of netball that
we want to play or known for. Playing big ups
to the Mystics though they did apply a lot of
pressure from the first sin to pass off. But I'm
hoping that we can learn from our mistakes.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
What is it about playing at home where you've played
so well and not quite so on the road?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, look our home our crowd has been amazing this season.
I think we've had a great turn out each game
as well. And it does, as cliche as this sounds,
that they do act as an eighth player for us.
You can feel it on the court, and I feel
like other teams that are coming in can feel the
presence of our crowd as well. So hopefully this week

(01:59):
they all again and support us.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
At the beginning of the season, it took a little
bit for the flow to get through court and now
we're sort of what will be the difference to getting
that smooth momentum going again in the middle.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I think the willingness to work hard. We know
the Pulse are one on one team and they are
going to grind us down. We know that, but we
need to feel comfortable in the grind and just keep
working for each other, having confidence to be able to
get it and give it in as well, and making
sure that people have great options. And I think when
that happens, then the flow comes.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Look.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
I watched that game twice and it got harder every
minute that I was watching it. But we needed to
watch it to learn from our mistakes. It was a
hard watch, but I know that the Pulse are going
to do the exact same thing as the Mystic to us,
so yeah, it was important to watch it but also
learn and then flush it. We've got our first training
this afternoon, so hopefully we can put in place some

(02:53):
of the things that we took away from the game.
I think mental skills was probably underrated. Honestly, when I
first came into this pasional environment, we had John Quinn then,
so he was great. We've always had great support network here,
but it has evolved and I think as the game
has become more professional. Mental skills have really, guess flourished,

(03:14):
and we've really felt great importance to it. Yeah, at
this level, physically everyone is kind of around the same anyway,
everyone's fit, everyone's strong, fast, But it is going to
be that mental capacity in terms of the smarts that
we play on court, but also just the willingness to win. Look,
we've been in this finals for a few years now.

(03:36):
It's not completely new to us. It hasn't gone our
way in the last few years as well, So I'm
really hoping that the experience that we've had in these
finals moments is going to shine bright for us this weekend.
And I have confidence that if we play to our
best ability, if we all play our role, we will
come away successful.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Talking of that, so you've already got title with the Pulse,
to Pie and Jane have had Southern Steel title, so
it's not like that pressure is new for them, So
that what can you bring to the team in situations
like this?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, Look, well, me and to Pie were talking this week.
We had a coffee and just discussed how influential we
will be and how much we have to really step
up and play the games of our lives this this week,
we have you know the likes of Holly Martina as well,
who are in experience, so we know that we need

(04:32):
to step up and in these crucial moments especially demand
the ball and have ball in hand.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
What do you remember about those final matches though?

Speaker 2 (04:40):
When I was with the Pulse, I remember that final
game like it was yesterday. I felt so free, the
confidence that we all had. This. You know, we always
talk about invisible threads, and I just felt that in
the game as well and beforehand leading up to it.
So I'll be trying to create that in our environment
this week especially. I'm excited for more from News Talk

(05:03):
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Speaker 1 (05:06):
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