Henderson hasn't had a full complement of players to pick from yet in the Northern League and won't for the next few weeks either as Holly Boyle, Amy Hunter and Abbie Meredith spend time in the US with their Otumoetai College team.
Andrea Tauai and Melissa Cairns also played their last game for Tauranga, for the foreseeable future at least, as both depart this weekend on scholarships to the US. "We were drastically down on personnel and when it's the likes of your two New Zealand reps and Kim, all three are very consistent players for us and we just couldn't get the points," Henderson said.
Tauranga are under no pressure to qualify for the nationals - they're already there courtesy of last year's finals appearance.
But Henderson said ideally they would use the Northern League as a lead-in to develop combinations for a title tilt.
"It is a struggle right now but I'm confident we should be able to function when everyone is back on board in three weeks ...
"Expectations are high but of last year's team, right now Amy Hunter is the only one playing."
