Northern Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan has swatted suggestions New Zealand netball is lagging behind its Australian counterparts.
But a look at the stats would suggest otherwise.
The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic is the sole New Zealand side, of five, to record a win in the last two weeks of the ANZ Championship. It is Kiwi netball's best, possibly only, hope in third place with four Australian sides accompanying it in the top five. The Mystics are sixth with two wins and three losses.
Australia took the rivalry round – where cumulative scores are tallied to find the strongest nation – by 58 goals, New Zealand teams have won once in over 30 matches on Australian soil and let's not forget the hapless Central Pulse – who continue to be the cellar-dwellers, recording one win with the competition now in its third year.
Keenan urged New Zealand sides to stick to their own game, rather than trying to replicate the dominant Australian style.
"We've got some skills that are far better than the Australians and we've got to make sure they shine through," Keenan said. "But we've got to get better at what we are doing."
"They [Australia] play a very sound game. We haven't got in right yet, but I don't think the gap is widening. We've got to make sure we get our players up to speed to be able to play in this competition and it's still a learning curve for us."
Keenan's side has felt the Australian dominance in the last two weeks, punished for constant errors and an inability to shut down 1.96m (6.5 ft) Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken in the 17-goal loss to the previously winless Queensland Firebirds two weeks ago.
While the Mystics drastically improved, particularly at the defensive end where Althea Byfield and Silver Fern Joline Henry were impressive, they could not prevent another hefty loss - by 11 goals - to the undefeated, table-topping Melbourne Vixens at the weekend.
"There were a lot of positives to take out of that match. We stifled the Vixens in patches, played more to what we are capable of and showed we could contain the best shooting pairing in the league, but we didn't get the win," Keenan conceded.
"Hopefully we can rectify that before the Canterbury Tactix - who have one win from five matches - game [on Saturday]. We're not taking them easy at all. They are a gutsy team. You wouldn't see them not fighting right to the bitter end."
The Mystics brought in eight new players, in a squad of 12, this season and were riding the wave of expectation before falling to their first loss against the Magic in Round 3.
"Teams haven't made the changes that we have, but the changes are positive, not negative. The combinations have shown they are making progress which is great for us," Keenan said.
Despite three consecutive losses, she firmly believes her side can make the top four.
"Absolutely - we're middle of the table, why would we be not thinking about top four? That's always where we are hoping to go and nothing's changed. We're not pushing the panic button but we do need to get more wins on the board," Keenan added.