KEY POINTS:
Former Silver Fern Tania Dalton sees the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic as first among equals in the new transtasman netball competition.
The opening pass in the ANZ Championship will be thrown on Saturday, when the Central Pulse host the Melbourne Vixens in Wellington.
New Zealand and Australia will each supply five teams in the 17-week competition and Dalton believes there will be little to separate them.
"At the start, I thought, oh God, the Australians are going to have a lot more depth than we have," she said.
"But then, looking at the games in the pre-season tournament in Sydney, I think any team is capable of winning on the day."
But pressed to name her choice of favourites heading into the championship, Dalton said it was hard to look past the Magic.
"Obviously everyone's talking about them," she said.
"They're stacked."
The Hamilton-based side have a core of five present Silver Ferns in shooters Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia, midcourter Laura Langman, and defenders Casey Williams and Joline Henry.
A sixth squad member, midcourter Amigene Metcalfe, has also had New Zealand test experience.
They are also well familiar with each other's game. All but Tutaia played for the Magic in the old National Bank Cup.
"I'd have to say Magic, just looking at them on paper," Dalton said.
"I've not seen them play, but Maria going to combine with Irene gives them a phenomenal attacking end and then there's Casey and Joline at the other end. They would have to be my pick."
Dalton also rated the Southern Steel and the Northern Mystics as New Zealand teams to watch.
The Steel are an amalgamation of almost perennial NBC winners the Southern Sting with the Otago Rebels, while the Mystics are coached by former Silver Fern mentor Yvonne Willering.
Of the Australian sides, she said the New South Wales Swifts, with the likes of test shooters Catherine Cox and Susan Pratley in the squad, looked particularly strong.
Dalton said the championship would be a definite step up from the NBC and the mix of styles would be a feature.
"With the National Bank Cup, you would go into a few games knowing you could win by 40 to 50, which was probably not a good thing," she said.
"But I think we're going see tough encounters every game and netball fans are going to love it."
Dalton was a member of New Zealand's world championship-winning campaign in 2003 and also enjoyed NBC success with the Sting.
While she would definitely have liked to have been part of a competition like the ANZ Championship, she had no regrets that she called time on her career last year.
"You can always look back and wish you could be around for a few more years, but I had a great time while I was there," she said.
"It's the way the game is going and that's fantastic."
NSW coach Julie Fitzgerald has also gone for the Magic as the side to beat, citing their large number of Silver Ferns.
"It they're not favourites, then I don't know who is."
- NZPA
