Magic coach has tricks up her sleeve to thwart NSW Swifts in ANZ Championship semi-final

N0 one knows the character of a team as well as an old coach and it’s why Julie Fitzgerald has warned her Magic charges just how dangerous the Swifts will be in their semi-final clash.

Julie Fitzgerald when she coached the NSW Swifts talking to Catherine Cox.

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N0 one knows the character of a team as well as an old coach and it’s why Julie Fitzgerald has warned her Magic charges just how dangerous the Swifts will be in Monday’s elimination semi-final of the ANZ Championships.

With the Swifts stinging from their 11-goal loss to the Queensland Firebirds in Monday’s Australian Conference final, Fitzgerald is ready for them to come out swinging against her New Zealand side in Hamilton.

While the Firebirds produced one of their best performances of the year to win the match, the Swifts failed to string together four consistent quarters and were harshly penalised on the scoreboard for even the slightest error or misdemeanour.

“I appreciate just how desperate they will be to get another crack at the Firebirds in the Grand-Final,’’ said Fitzgerald, who coached the Swifts to their one and only ANZ championship crown in the inaugural trans-Tasman competition back in 2008.

At the helm of Magic since leaving the Swifts at the end of 2011, Fitzgerald last weekend helped orchestrate the biggest upset of the competition to date when her side ended the undefeated run of fellow New Zealand side southern Steel in the New Zealand Conference final.

And few doubt she can plot the downfall of her old club on Monday night.

History indicates the contest between the two sides will be close.

Previous finals encounters between the pair include last year’s 60-52 semi-final win to the Swifts, Magic’s 50-49 and 54-49 victories in 2014 and 2010 and another one-goal win to the Swifts in the 2008 semi-final.

“It will definitely help us being at home,’’ Fitzgerald said.

“But in the end I think it will be the team who is consistent the longest who will take the win.’’