Netball: Match to be dedicated to life of Otane stalwart

Annemarie Kupa.

Defending champions Otane will dedicate their table-topping Super 6 netball clash tomorrow night to former Magpie Roger Chappell who died in a road crash at the weekend.

"We'll put it on the line for him and the families," the Thirsty Whale-sponsored team coach, Annemarie Kupa, said last night.

"A lot of our girls will be at at his tangi at 11am tomorrow [today] at the Pukehou Marae [near Te Aute College]," said Kupa, impressing the 42-year-old was born and bred in Otane.

Chappell's sister, Vikki Graham, coached the Otane second netball team and had played for the premier side during their decade-long dominance. Her rugby-playing husband, Kelly, is a Otane Sports Club president and life member.

"We're very close families down here," said Kupa before they play second-placed Hastings High School Old Girls Proactive Huias at 7.15pm at the PG Arena in Napier.

She said the Super 6 hadn't exactly unfolded the way the other five teams had projected preseason in HB Today.

The opposition have yet to put the perennial champions under any pressure as such, although Otane and Huias are undefeated and that may change tonight with the former going in as firm favourites.

"We haven't played all our cards yet either," she said, mindful that it would take about 10 to 12 games for them to find some level of cohesiveness in their combinations.

However, Kupa said they wouldn't take Huias lightly because of their unpredictable nature.

"They are a team who can play on their day. They are strong but they can also go the other way," she said.