Plenty of big action to come for Giants

As many as 11 full internationals could be seen in action when the Giants Softball Club stages a pre-season men's inter-club tournament at South Park, Masterton this Saturday.
Competing there will be Poneke-Kilbirnie, arguably the top club side in the country over the past 20 years, Miramar, who have also achieved notable success in major competitions, and Giants themselves.
Between Poneke-Kilbirnie and Mirmar they have nine current Blacks Sox to call on, plus two Western Samoa representatives, and they also have a host of national age group contenders as well.
Giants will play Miramar in the opening game of the tourney at 12 noon while Poneke-Kilbirnie and Mirmar will lock horns at 2pm and then Giants will play Poneke-Kilbirnie at 4pm.
Against opposition of that calibre Giants will be facing an uphill battle but they pleased assistant coach Russell Thompson with their form when runners-up in another pre-season tourney they hosted at South Park on Saturday and Sunday.
Giants made the final after drawing with Hutt Valley Dodgers 2-2, beating Kapiti 7-4 and losing to Johnsonville 2-5.
The tournament decider provided them with the chance to reverse their first round defeat to Johnsonville but the latter again held the upper hand, winning 5-1.
Thompson said there were many plusses in the Giants performance, the foremost of which was the outstanding shown by their four Canadian recruits, Curtis Ames, Trevor Aldred, Cory Kinnon and Jaret Lambert.
"We were confident they would do a good job for us but it's fair to say they exceeded our expectations," Thompson said. "They not only have good skills but they have the right attitude. They play to win and that's what we want."
Three of the Canadians - catcher Ames, infielder Aldred and outfielder Kinnon- were actually named in the tournament team along with Giants captain Gordon Wilmshurst, who also plays at infield.
And, for good measure, Terry Nixon was named as tournament team coach and Lianne Thompson as manager, roles they fill in the Giants set-up.
It was the solidness on defence in pressure situations which most pleased Russell Thompson about the Giants performance.
"We didn't panic when the pressure was on and we took some excellent outs in that position," he said.
Both pitchers used, Richard Clarke and Blair Thompson, impressed with their consistency and the feature of the batting effort were the automatic home runs hit by Wilmshurst and Justin Karaitiana.
The Giants squad to contest the Hutt Valley Inter-City premier inter-club competitions in 2005 was named on Sunday night and is: Curtis Ames, Gordon Wilmshurst, Trevor Aldred, Terry Waitere, Ryan Shannahan, Justin Karaitiana, Cory Kinnon, Corie Karaitiana, Jaret Lambert, Tony Nixon, Russell Thompson and Neil Foote.
Several of those players will play leading roles in a coaching clinic for year 7 and 8 pupils to be held at South Park this Friday between 10am and 2pm.
Most of the children taking part will be involved in the new intermediate school league which will be played on Friday nights this season.