Wairarapa face tougher task

A REVISED draw hasn't helped Wairarapa's chances of improving their seeding at the quinrangular tennis tournament to be played at Paraparaumu this weekend.
Wairarapa go into the event seeded third behind Wellington and Hutt Valley and ahead of Kapi Mana and Manawatu and with Wellington likely to be in a class of their own their objective is to leap-frog Hutt Valley and finish in second place.
The original draw had Wairarapa and Hutt Valley meeting in the very first round and Wairarapa selector Steve Hurley was looking forward to playing that game while his players were fresh.
It also gave them the bye in the middle of the competition and that too was seen by Hurley as a plus as it would have given his players a much-needed break before their last two matches.
The revised draw has changed all that. Wairarapa now play Wellington first, followed by Hutt Valley, Kapi Mana and Manawatu and their bye does not come until the fifth and final round.
Therefore, they will have the arduous task of playing four successive matches, a situation which will thoroughly test their physical and mental reserves.
By naming as many as 14 players in his squad Hurley has at least provided the opportunity for his leading players to be rested from one, or possibly even two, of the matches.
Indeed he is already considering spelling some of them from the Wellington game so to have them spot on for the Hutt Valley clash.
"Wellington have a very strong line-up and the wisest move for us might be to give some out of our lower order players a run there," Hurley said.
"It's certainly something we will look at, that's for sure."
Hurley had hoped to have national age group representative Marcus Daniell at No.1 in the men's section for Wairarapa but he has commitments in Aiustralia and is not available for this particular tourney.
With Daniell out the top two spots go to Jono Hurley and Matt Spooner, both of whom play their inter-club tennis in Wellington, Hurley for the championship-winning Wellington club side and Spooner for Mangaraki.
Baden Stevenson has been named at number three, and then come Geoff McKay , Mike Jackson , Chris Schofield, Matt Nicholson and Steve Hurley himself.
For Rathkeale College student Schofield this will be his debut appearance for Wairarapa at this level and Steve Hurley expects him to cope well if given the opportunity to display his talents.
"Just being part of the environment will be valuable for Chris??..he could be around the rep scene for a long time," Hurley said.
At No.1 in the women's line-up for Wairarapa will be Emma Stevenson who has been performing well at inter-club level in Wellington and another who plays her club tennis in the captital in Charlotte Gibson, will be at No.3.
Splitting them is Katie Wyeth with Ashleigh Gane at four, Natasha Robinson at five and Bridget Needham at six. Both Gane and Needham are Wairarapa College students who, like Schofield, will gain immensely from the experience.
Selector Hurley believes that while it is their men who are their strongest weapon Wairarapa should also get full value out of their women, who he rates as being more talented overall than those in past Wairarapa teams he has personally been associated with.
"Yes, the men are our main strength but we have enough depth amongst the women to be a force there too," he said.
Hurley is mindful though that while improving their seeding is the ultimate objective for Wairarapa-and that makes beating Hutt Valley a major priority-they will need to tread warily against Kapi Mana and Manawatu who are seeded below them.
Kapi Mana, especially, has a much more competitive side than last year and Hurley is anticipating a close tussle there.
"It's certainly not a foregone conclusion that we will hold third?we will have to perform well to even do that," he said.