Players in new roles as Giants eye Miramar

Senior members of their squad will have their hands full when Cross Country Rentals Giants contest the Hutt Valley and Inter-City series men's softball competitions this season.
Not only will the likes of Richard Clarke, Justin Karaitiana, Terry Waitere, Blair Thompson and, Ryan Shannahan be expected to lead the way on the field of play but they will also share the responsibility of coaching and managing.
It's a situation forced on Giants with the decisions of long-time coach Tony Nixon and manager Bryan Hourigan to call it a day.
In the last five seasons they have taken Giants to two Hutt Valley premier division titles and a runners-up spot in the Inter-City series which attracts the top club sides from both Hutt Valley and Wellington.
And just two seasons back Nixon coached and Hourigan managed the Hutt Valley men's team which won the national provincial competition.
Having players also looking after coaching and managing duties is obviously not ideal but Richard Clarke
is confident Giants will remain a force to be reckoned with.
"We are lucky to have enough old heads to work things out," he said,. "It's going to keep some of us pretty busy but you have to do what you have to, don't you?".
Clarke was rapt with the strong showing made by Giants at the Kapiti Classic tournament played last weekend.
To finish runners-up in a tourney which also red the best teams in Hutt Valley and Wellington was a hugely encouraging effort with a first-up 7-1 beating of powerhouse Poneke-Kilbirnie giving them a flying start.
Richard Carroll and Nathan Shannahan combined for the first two runs and from there Giants maintained the momentum by consistently putting the ball in play and forcing errors in the P-K field
Game two against Porirua was played in atrocious conditions with Giants having the extra frustration of losing star pitcher Justin Karaitiana to a calf injury in their 4-0 loss.
The disappointment of that defeat was, however, quickly dispelled when Giants bounced back to winning form in their opening match on day two against Dodgers and they did it in style, scoring 11 runs without reply.
Home runs from Blair Thompson and Ryan Shannahan (commonly known as Salt and Pepper) provided the high point of a solid batting performance and Giants backed that effort with an equally clinical display in the field.
Giants's fourth and final match against Miramar was essentially a final and it had all the quality and tension of a game of that significance, Miramar winning 1-0 in a tie breaker innings. Giants did have chances to put runs on the board throughout the match and at one stage had loaded bases and were unable to finish things off.
Miramar, for their part, managed to scrape a run in the bottom of the eighth on an error so Giants had to be content with the silver.
Catcher Campbell Gaunt had an outstanding weekend for Giants as did second base Nathan Shannahan while captain Terry Waitere led from the front on both defence and offence.
Miramar will again by Giants's opponent when Inter-City series matches get under way on Saturday.They will be playing at Haitaitai Park in Wellington.