They might be in the Rainbow Netball League top four where they pose as one of the championship contenders, but Black Mambas Queens feel like they are already defeated.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police outfit still finds it difficult to get back on their feet after the loss of their key player, Pauline Jani.
The former Zimbabwe senior netball team Shooter who succumbed to an undisclosed ailment on October 11, last year at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals was buried at Zororo Memorial Park.
At the time of her death, she had featured in 14 outings for the police outfit and led in the Golden Hand race with 796 goals, ahead of Glow Petroleum's Christine Kadandara, who stood at 528.
Kadandara went on to win the RNL 2023 Golden Hand Award with 1 203 goals to her name.
Interestingly by the end of the season, the late shooter's scores still made it into the top 10 shooters of the year.
The other nine shooters played 36 games, while the 2019, 2021, and 2022 golden hand winner only featured in 14.
And Mambas still find it hard to get their act together in the absence of Jani.
"Losing Jani was a huge blow to the team to the extent that the other players lost confidence in themselves and thought that it was going to be the end of Mambas Queens, the team," revealed Black Mambas assistant coach Tracy Kachuwaire.
"They and other teams thought that Black Mambas would no longer be one of the big guns in the league.
"We as coaches had to do a lot of reassurance that all hope was not lost and making them know that they could do it even without her though we soldiered on."
As a result of the emotional struggles that the team went through, the Talent Museka-led side had an unpleasant pre-season.
This compounded their woes when the season got underway as they went on to lose three games in the opening 10, something which is uncharacteristic of the team.
Further, most of the team's key players and regular starters had to be away for almost the entire first half of the season due to work commitments.
Renowned defenders Cynthia Gamuchirai and Chivai Mangochi, midcourt players, Omega Muwandi and Violet Mudzingo together with utility star, Lisa Masiya who all serve as Police Officers were not available.
Despite taking a long time to settle, Museka's team sat at position three on the log standings by the mid-season break with 36 points in 21 games.
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"We managed a top-three position by the end of the first half but it was a very emotionally rocky journey for us," said Kachuwaire.
"The team's performance was generally not bad save that there was huge room for better results yet the players were emotionally weak.
"We felt the absence of Jani who played a pivotal role in the yesteryears."
With the second half of the season already underway, Mambas are hoping to rise to the top and dethrone perennial champions, Glow Petroleum Queens. Last season, Glow recorded a third straight RANL title after claiming the championship without tasting defeat in 36 games.
Prisons side Correctional Queens and Black Mambas settled for first and second runners up respectively.
"By the end of the season, we expect a top-three finish though it can only come with sweat and blood to cover up for what we lost in the first days of the season," added Kachuwaire.
"Teams have improved in the second half of the season and there are no pushovers but we are going to tread cautiously to achieve our target."
Having aimed at Correctional Queens at the weekend, the police outfit failed to move past the prison officers as they fell 61-35.
Now they sit at position four on the log table with 40 points in 24 games. And Kachuwaire feels that they still have a good chance of achieving the top three season finish.
"Hope is not lost, our next assignments are the major contributors to our destiny and we are going to approach them with caution."
