Indigenous Mana arrive with the one advantage no other team in Pool One can manufacture. They are unknown.
They came through the Brisbane Qualifier playing like a team that didn’t care who was in front of them. They ran hard, hit harder, and looked capable of keeping that pace well beyond Sunday. Youth, fitness, and familiarity carried them through. This group knows each other’s games, trusts their combinations, and plays without hesitation.
That makes them dangerous.
In a pool stacked with established contenders, Indigenous Mana are the team nobody can truly prepare for. There’s limited footage. Limited history. No clear patterns to plan against. That uncertainty matters in a format where slow starts are punished and hesitation is fatal. Cory McGrady gives them a creative edge by hand and by foot, and when they find early momentum, they apply pressure quickly and without apology.
But Pool One is a different test.
This is where experience usually cashes its chips. The Dawgs, Salty Pigs, and Reborn have all been hardened through professional systems and through repeated Nines campaigns. They’ve made mistakes here before and learned from them. Indigenous Mana are only just beginning that education.
The learning curve in this competition is steep and unforgiving. Decisions come faster. Mistakes cost more. Recovery becomes a skill in itself. How quickly Indigenous Mana adapt will decide whether their energy turns into points or fades into frustration.
They won’t hesitate.
The question is whether that’s enough against teams who already know what Sunday demands.
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