Wairarapa look for the edge

Wairarapa will have some expert advice ringing in their ears as they begin their defence of their regional superleague netball title with a match against a Kapiti selection at the Genesis Recreation Centre in Masterton on Friday night.
Assisting coach Marion Tulloch with the preparation of her side at Monday's night's training session were former Silver Fern Debbie Matoe and current Capital Shakers player Lavilla Paki.
Matoe played for New Zealand between 1993 and 1996, as well as repping for Wellington-based teams at NPC level over many years, and she coached Netball Wellington's under-19 side last season.
She spent some time on Monday working with the whole Wairarapa squad on their through court defence and later concentrated specifically on the players who will be part of Wairarapa's defensive end.
On the other hand Paki, who plays at goal shoot herself, focussed her attention on those who comprise Wairarapa's attacking line-up.
Tulloch was delighted with the way her players responded to the messages given by Matoe and Paki.
"There was a lot of enthusiasm?.everybody was tuned in to what was expected of them," she said.
Delighting Tulloch too was the quality of her team's play in a "friendly" against Upper Hutt club Maoribank on Sunday.
With the emphasis there for both teams being on developing combinations, the fact Wairarapa had the edge on the scoreboard was of no great moment,but Tulloch was pleasantly surprised at the flow her side got into their game.
"When you consider many of the players hadn't actually played with each other before, it was pretty impressive," she said.
"Obviously there is still work to do on combinations, but we've made a good start and that's pleasing."
Tulloch has named a 13-strong squad for this season's superleague programme but it is already down to 11 for Friday's night game with Sarah Brooking and Harriet Somerville, both being sidelined with injury problems
Just who will make up the starting line-up for Wairarapa won't be finalised until nearer match time, but it seems certain that three players who were part of last year's successful side, Geraldine Carroll, Celia Donaldson and Lisa Manihera, will be amongst them.
Carroll, the team captain, will be at goal attack with Donaldson and Manihera spearheading the defence.
Contesting for the other places will be Perri Tatana, Jamie Reiri, Pip Lynch, Ella Biggs, Logan Karaitiana, Lorraine Maloney, Louise Easton and Casey Pederson.
Friday night's opposition, Kapiti selection, are a team similar to Wairarapa in that they are a composite side made up from players from several clubs within the Horowhenua region.
And coach Tulloch admits to having little idea of either the make-up of their team or their strength and weaknesses.
However that isn't a concern as the emphasis for Wairarapa will be on sticking to their own game plan and relying on that to bring them a victory.
"Everything is geared towards kicking off the season with a win?that's the main priority this weekend," Tulloch said.
Friday's night is the first of four home matches for Wairarapa, others being against Norths from Kapi Mana on March 17, Naenae Collegians on March 24 and Maidstone United on March 31.
Their only pool game away is against St Mary's Old Girls from Wellington and that will be played at the Wellington East College grounds on April 7.