Uphill battle for Wairarapa College

Wairarapa College coach Kelly Sargent isn't about to concede defeat when assessing her team's prospects for their Netball Wairarapa premier one semifinal match with defending champions Harcourts at the Colombo Road courts in Masterton on Saturday.

When the two sides met in the final round of preliminary round games last weekend, Harcourts romped home by 30 goals, 56 to 26.

But rather than dwell on that end result, Sargent is quick to point to the closeness of the first quarter, saying that if Wairarapa College could repeat the intensity and hunger they showed there for the full 60 minutes, an upset of monumental proportions wasn't an impossibility.

"The problem was that we dropped our focus and concentration and, against teams with the experience and skill of Harcourts, you simply can't do that and expect to stay in the game," said Sargent, a former long-time member of the Harcourts squad.

It is little wonder therefore that the pre-match message Sargent will be giving Wairarapa College before Saturday's semi is that they need to start strongly and maintain the momentum all the way through.

"We have to get into their heads rather than let them get into ours, basically we have to do everything we can to stop their flow. It's a huge ask I know but it's not impossible ... no way."

Sargent said the overall depth of the Harcourts squad was such there was little point in Wairarapa College looking to concentrate on keeping certain individuals under wraps. Rather they had to be competitive in every department.

"I guess it's all about self-belief. If the girls go out there believing they can win who knows what might happen."

The other premier one semifinal sees Carterton New World Legends up against Makoura College and Sargent will also be closely involved here, being part of a Legends squad which has probably already performed above expectations, considering they do little training and consist of players whose age might suggest their best days are behind them.

"I guess some people might ask questions about the strength of the competition with us making it this far but, hey, we will take it," Sargent said. "For a lot of us, the biggest hassle is keeping the kids off the court."

Legends actually won their preliminary round clash with Makoura College by a narrow margin and Sargent, who anticipates another close encounter, is mindful of the threat posed by the only male playing in the premier one series, Te Kapua Haira, who has starred for Makoura at both the defensive and attacking ends of the court.

"I'm certainly not saying Makoura are a one-person side but he certainly makes a big impact wherever they choose to play him," Sargent said. "If we can somehow nullify him, we'll be doing ourselves a big favour."

As to Legends, Sargent sees them playing their usual style of netball which, put simply, is all about them working at a pace which best suits their fitness standards.

"We know that they (Makoura) will be fitter than us so we have to counter that by being smarter."