After finishing third after the regular season, Fever will have to take the hard route to reach the Grand Final.
Ryan said he wanted more from his team after last weekend’s performance but he was determined not to dwell on it.
“It was a disappointing loss on the weekend and certainly not what we wanted to achieve going to Tassie,” he said.
“Full credit to the Magpies, they wanted it far more than us in the way they played, we always knew it was going to be a tough game, considering the circumstances.
“We've binned that performance pretty quickly and we’ve attacked training really well and all eyes are now on the Semi Final against the Vixens.”
Fever and Vixens have played out two close games this season with both teams taking home a one-goal win decided on the buzzer. Ryan stressed the importance of sticking to the game plan in crunch encounters.
“The biggest thing for us is going back to the things that we do really well. It all starts with how hard we're willing to work in our respective roles and how hard we're willing to work for each other,” he said.
“We know that our game plan can really challenge Vixens if it's up and about.
“A lot of the attention to detail this week will be around the things that we're very good at and making our strengths even stronger and backing in the way we play.”
The two sides are also no stranger to each other in finals netball after playing each other in the Major Semi Final and Grand Final last year, on both occasions Fever came out on top.
With the cutthroat nature of finals netball ahead, Ryan believes his side has what it takes to win.
“We’ll back in our ability to perform under the pressure of finals, which we were exceptionally good at last year,” he said.
“We know we haven't really hit our best just yet for long enough periods of time but it's in us, we're capable and there’s no better time than Semi Final time to step it up.
“We're not looking beyond the Vixens this weekend, we know that it's a do or die match and at the end of the day if we want it we're going to have to play some really good netball.”
While a place in the Major Semi Final would have given the team an extra life, the home ground advantage after finishing third is something Fever will cherish according to Ryan.
“To be at home and on our own home court, that can be a huge advantage for us and something that we certainly want to lean into and embrace,” he said.
“I think there’s an added bonus of not having to travel too, it was a four day trip to Tassie to play one game of netball, which was pretty taxing.
“Hopefully we can break past the 11,000 fans that rocked up for our last home game against the Giants.”
Article By Oliver Lane
