Swifts' netball coach not fretting

A win by any margin will do Swifts coach Rob Wright as his team try to clinch the Australian conference's top spot in the trans-Tasman netball competition.

Calculations will be relegated to the back of NSW Swifts coach Rob Wright's mind, as his Australian conference-leading side strive to stay top after this weekend's final round of the trans-Tasman netball competition.

The Swifts go into their home game on Saturday against the unbeaten New Zealand conference-leading Southern Steel, heading defending champions Queensland Firebirds in the Australian section only on percentage.

A loss or narrow victory over the Steel would leave the door open for the Firebirds to steal top spot in Australia and have a week off and host a conference final the following week.

The Swifts have a 29 goal better for-and-against than the Firebirds giving them a four per cent lead over the Queensland side.

The Firebirds host third-placed Australian conference team West Coast Fever on Sunday, by which time they will know exactly what they need to do to leapfrog NSW.

"It probably puts Firebirds in a great position to know, if we're good enough to win, how much they need to win by," Wright told AAP.

"The Steel haven't lost a game so winning against them is going to be tough enough.

"We won't worry about the score. Clearly, we want to try and win by as much as we can, if we can, but our only priority will be trying to win the match."

Wright will continue to manage the playing time of his captain and "super important" midcourter Kimberlee Green, who played half a game last weekend after missing the Swifts' three previous games with a knee issue.

"We'll continue to try and build her back in, time-wise. I'm not quite sure how much time we'll get out of her," Wright said.

Star shooter Caitlin Thwaites is likely to start against the Steel after playing just the final quarter last week, when Wright tinkered with his attack end.


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Source: AAP



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