Manchester Thunder must 'turn ball earlier', says Karen Greig ahead of Wasps clash

Manchester Thunder director of netball Karen Greig highlights early turnover ball as potentially key to unlocking a victory over Vitality Netball Superleague leaders Wasps.

The two sides will meet on Wednesday night at the Ricoh Arena for their re-scheduled round two match, as Thunder endeavour to become the first team to beat Mel Mansfield's outfit this season.

The rearranged game forms part of a jam-packed period for the visitors to Coventry but in-between, Greig was just able to squeeze in a short birthday trip to Italy.

Speaking from the airport departure lounge on her way home, the Thunder coach started by reflecting on their "upsetting" loss to Team Bath in round eight.

"The girls are fired up and determined to put the wrongs right," Greig told Sky Sports.

"We've been beaten by Bath and Loughborough but you look at the amount of goals that we've scored in both of those fixtures and in any other game that you play, if you score 56 or 60 goals, you win.

"So it's not that we've got an issue scoring goals and putting the ball in the net - we're still an attacking force, we recognise that - but we've still got some work to do defensively."

Against teams that have got prolific shooters, we've got to look to turn ball earlier and make sure that when we do get the opportunity to turn ball over, that we reward ourselves at the other end of the court.

Wasps Netball know all about prolific shooters, with Rachel Dunn commanding their circle week in and week out. Dunn is in the form of her life but is not alone in their attacking D - her partnership with likely starting GA Katie Harris is a potent one, as Greig knows only too well.

"Obviously they've got Rachel Dunn, who is in great form up front. It's going to be key for us to stifle the feeds into her and her service, and look to turn ball over earlier and start the pressure from as high up the court as we possibly can."

The schedule that Thunder are currently in the middle of is not for the faint-hearted and reads like this: Cardiff last Monday, Bath last Friday, Coventry on Wednesday, and then back at Belle Vue on Saturday. For Greig, the itinerary is hectic and taxing on both her and her players, but it does provide the chance to stick firmly in the present.

"Ultimately it almost gives us no time to rest on our laurels or dwell on what could have been on Friday [against Team Bath]," she says. "It's a case of dust yourselves down and pick yourself back up, because we've got a big job to do.

"It's not going to be an easy game by any means. We've been watching Wasps all season and taking as many notes as we can to look to put a solid game plan together and put a good four quarters out against them."

Fully unlocking Wasps Netball is something that no Superleague side has been able to do so far this season. Instead, they have been pushed for 30 minutes but have always found an extra gear to accelerate into, standing up in the big moments against some of their closest rivals.

The question for Greig is, just how do you find a way to become the first victors over the defending champions since her side beat them at Belle Vue last season?

"I always say to my players that we play each quarter at a time and if we can maintain concentration for four lots of 15, then we put a solid 60 minutes together," shared Greig.

We need a full-court performance. We can't have the defence firing and not the attack or vice versa. We need both ends of the court firing on all cylinders. They've got a really strong team from back to front and it's going to be a difficult job all over the court.

"I think in terms of what we need to do against them, as I said, it's to stifle service to Rachel Dunn and if we can manage to hassle and do that, then we stand every chance to take the victory which is ultimately what we want.

"It's always a massive battle between us and Wasps. The last few seasons, we've gone one-for-one against them. We've beaten them at their place and then they've beaten us at our place a couple of years ago, and then it was vice versa last year.

"So there is a little bit of rivalry there, but obviously a lot of mutual respect as well."

Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague action when London Pulse host Team Bath on Monday, live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix from 7.15pm. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.