Mid-courter Serena Guthrie says the Northern Mystics are continuing their search for consistency after securing the New Zealand No.1 ranking for the trans-Tasman netball league play-offs.
The Mystics' 54-49 win over the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic ensures they will finish top of the New Zealand conference with two rounds of the regular season to go.
Guthrie says the Auckland-based franchise will use their run home against the Southern Steel and Melbourne Vixens to work on taking the flat patches out of their game.
"When we're at our best we're a tough team to beat, but at the moment we still have some moments where we dip and that's when we lose matches," she said.
"It's just the inconsistencies that we've got, like high turnover rates, a lack of intensity through certain times of the game, so we need to keep pushing as a team."
Guthrie is among a group of England internationals in the league and she has made an impression in her debut season, twice winning the Golden Bib for player of the round.
The 25-year-old, who has been operating at wing defence, said the biggest change for her in the ANZ Championship was the increased intensity on court, which put an imperative on doing the fundamentals well.
"Driving on to the ball, catching, passing and getting free - all those things are high-end because of the level of competition," she said.
"Those are the main take-homes for me, just doing the basics well for longer."
Guthrie's commitments with the Mystics meant she missed England's Test series against Trinidad and Tobago in early May and the Netball Europe championship that followed.
However, she has been included as expected this week in coach Tracey Neville's preliminary England squad for the World Cup in Sydney in August.
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