Wairarapa face their biggest challenge

Wairarapa will be entering uncharted territory when they take part in the divisional premiership men's basketball tournament in Wellington from Friday to Sunday.
With adult leagues not commencing in this region until the fourth school term the Wairarapa players have had to prepare on a diet of squad training and a couple of warm-up games, one against a college side which they won and another against a Hutt Valley combination which they lost by a narrow margin.
Wairarapa coach Keely Limpus freely concedes to not knowing what to expect from her team over the weekend.
The former national women's league player has been impressed by their enthusiasm and dedication at training, but it won't be until they step onto the court for the first of their pool games against Mana at 9am on Friday morning that their ability to play at a higher level will be gleaned.
However, she is optimistic that under the leadership of former Governors Wairarapa player Piki Kerr, Wairarapa-Bush rugby rep Nathan Riwai-Couch and experienced Eric Kohitolu they will at least make their presence felt.
"There's no way we can predict how we will fare results-wise but the major priority is to be competitive in all games and I'm hopeful we'll at least be that," she said. "If we can make our opposition sit up and take notice, we'd have achieved something positive, won't we?."
For Nathan Riwai-Couch his involvement in the Wellington tournament will be part of a hectic weekend.
He is also an integral part of the Marist rugby side which will play Gladstone in a Wairarapa-Bush senior first division match at Gladstone on Saturday.
Couch is likely to play in the pool games against Mana and New Plymouth (2.15pm) on Friday but whether he will available for Saturday's matches against Hawera (10.45am) and Levin (7.30pm) is something still to be confirmed.
Tactically, Limpus said the concentration for Wairarapa would be on developing their own combinations rather than worrying about the strengths and weakness of their opposition, as much because little or nothing was known of the latter in any case.
"From what we understand the standard of opposition will be good but just how good we don't know," she said. " So for our part we will be concentrating on getting our own game going and seeing what happens from there."
Their participation in this weekend's tournament by their men's team is expected to give Wairarapa basketball a decent shot in the arm and could be the forerunner to a women's rep side taking part in a similar tourney next year.
"It's important we provide incentives for our players and giving them the chance to play at a higher level is a big assist in that respect," she said.