MATCH PREVIEW | Saracens Mavericks vs Surrey Storm (NSL Rd 17)

Goal Attack Kira Rothwell wants her side to show a true Saracens performance on Sunday against Surrey Storm.

After a defeat at home against Cardiff Dragons last weekend, Rothwell wants her side to show that they can mix it with the best teams in the league.

“I’m so excited for these last few games. What we’ve shown for the last few weeks hasn’t been Saracens-like in terms of performance. We want to prove to people in these last few games and going forward, that we are a team who always compete and can secure those big wins.”

Having been utilised off the bench at times this season, Rothwell has started the last few games, reestablishing her partnership with Ine-Mari Venter. The Goal Attack explained that she had enjoyed rekindling the connection in the shooting circle, as they look to kick on in the final stages of the season.

“It's been great playing with Ine again. I know that the moment I get the ball, I can turn and find her straight away in the shooting circle. I think knowing when to let the ball go is one of my strengths and we’ve really started to work out the movement we need in the circle now as well. It means we can both get goals on the board and that’s so exciting.”

With the news last week of which clubs had secured their place in next season’s NSL, Rothwell admitted that it was going to be an emotional occasion against Surrey Storm, as they prepare to play their penultimate game in the league, although she insisted that her side still have a job to do.

“It’s going to be really emotional today. There are people in our team who began their netball journeys at Storm, so it’s going to be really tough. Ultimately, we still have a job we need to do. They are going to be playing fuelled by emotion, so we need to focus in on what we want to achieve in training this week. It’s a game we need to win.”