Lisa Claassen got a good feeling about this week's national championships campaign as soon as the Tauranga team's mini-van rolled out of the carpark yesterday morning and set off on an all-day road trip to Wellington.
After a disjointed build-up to their national title defence, with Tauranga literally begging, stealing or borrowing players to make up a full contingent in the Northern Region competition, Claassen said it was a good feeling to have everyone available for Wellington.
"I looked around the mini-van and it was full for the first time! It's been a funny year so far, with different players unavailable for different reasons, but we've come together now and it's up to us to put it together on the court."
Tauranga, coached by the seasoned Stewart Henderson, swept the Northern League and will land in Wellington as top seeds, with section games over the next three days against NZ Institute of Sport, Waitakere, North Harbour Raiders, Massey, Eastern Angels. Tauranga men also qualified for the nationals.
Claassen, tournament MVP last year and a powerhouse outside hitter, said their top seeding and the fact they'd won two out of the last three national club titles would ensure they hit the capital with a target on their backs.
"Teams are out to topple us, for sure, and everyone seems to fire up when they play us. But rather than feel intimidated it motivates the girls and gives us a boost."
Henderson canned the side's final trip to Auckland last weekend and instead brought in a few of the region's fringe players for a rugged final hit-out on their home court.
"We've done enough travelling to Auckland this season and the negatives of another long day away outweighed anything we could have got out of it."
Juggling a variety of players to fill gaps in the roster had added to the overall strength of the squad, giving Henderson confidence any one of his players could play a key role this week.
"Over the year we've developed a strong squad because everyone's had to get on court at some stage and play their part."
The nationals had been controversially cut back to just the top 12 men's and women's teams this season and Henderson hadn't spent a huge amount of time researching their opponents in pool A.
"NZIS I haven't seen this year but Waitakere will be strong, particularly if Audra Penney [basketballer Kirk Penney's wife] is playing, although against us a few weeks ago she tired at the end of the game."
National championship pools:
Women's pool A: Tauranga, NZ Institute of Sport, Waitakere, North Harbour Raiders, Massey, Eastern Angels. Pool B: Scorpions A, Manukau South, Sparta, Smash, Hamilton, Hawkz.
Men's pool A: Sparta, Shirley, Playaz, Scorpions, Hawkz, Tauranga. Pool B: North Harbour Raiders A, South Auckland, Waitakere, North Harbour Raiders B, Nelson Pine, Measina Spikers.