Longwhitecloudadventures: This week's South Africans!

Spearheaded by ageless Irene van

Dyk, Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic

capped a remarkable trans-Tasman

netball season comeback by becoming the first New Zealand franchise to claim the title.

Drawing on the mental strength gained in their 12-match winning streak to reach the decider, the Magic overhauled the Melbourne Vixens on Sunday to win grand final 41-38.

Trailing at every break at Melbourne's packed Hisense Arena, the Magic only hit the front with six minutes remaining, then pulled away as they put the seal on a season that started with four straight losses.

Forty-year-old goal shooter van Dyk was at her superstar best for the visitors, keeping the Magic in touch as the Vixens dominated the game's early stages.

The world's most capped player sunk 25 goals from 26 attempts and later ruled out any thoughts of retirement after some confusion about post-match on-court comments.

Her mother died before last week's preliminary final victory and van Dyk is to travel to her birth country, South Africa, for the funeral before returning to New Zealand.

Van Dyk and defender Leana de Bruin, who was named the player of the grand final, were the standouts for the Magic who had lost the 2008 and 2010 deciders to Australian teams.

"There is a lot of pride in us as a team because of where we have come from and our journey to get here," coach Noeline Taurua said.

"There was a lot of belief that we could take this game."

Taurua praised her team's composure in the final minutes, saying the difficult journey the team had travelled this season to overcome their poor start had kept them calm

The Vixens should never have had to worry about a late Magic rally, but their poor shooting, converting just 38 of 55 attempts, proved costly.

Two gorgeous South African girls in this winning team!!