Kuranui provide talking point

They say familiarity breeds contempt.
But that's hardly the case with the Kuranui College squad which provided the talking point of last weekend's matches in Netball Wairarapa's premier one competition with their 49-28 victory over Wairarapa College.
No fewer than three members of the Phillips family, Chanel, Te Ata and Waimarama, were part of the winning line-up and the sisterly theme was continued by the presence of the Strange twins, Alana and Tania.
They were joined by Natasha Hill, Dawn Bregman, Renee Oakley and Stacey Guthrie to secure a victory which even caught coach Lynda Strange ? mother of Alana and Tania, ? by surprise.
Not that she didn't give her team a good chance of success after some pleasing early-season form, simply that she couldn't imagine them winning by as many as 21 goals.
"We always thought a win was possible but by that much?. no way," Strange said. "We were expecting a lot closer tussle than that."
Just how long it had been since Kuranui last beat Wairarapa College in premier one action no one seems to know but if it has happened before it was obviously many years ago.
Highlighting the Kuranui effort was the accuracy of the three shooters used, the Strange sisters and Waimarama Phillips, and the number of turnovers created by the hustle and bustle of centre Chanel Phillips.
"It was one of those games where the whole team played well, everything went pretty much according to plan," coach Strange said. "The shooters got a lot of quality ball and made the most of it."
Strange believes the experience of playing at premier one level last year is now paying dividends for the current Kuranui squad.
Most of them were only 14 or 15 years old when they debuted there and while they made little impact from a results viewpoint it was a very positive learning curve for them.
"They learnt a lot from playing against more experienced opposition week in and week out and had a better idea of what to expect this time around," she said. "They are more confident now, they handle pressure better than they did last year."
Not surprisingly the solid form of the Kuranui players has not gone unnoticed by the Wairarapa age group selectors. Five of them ? Te Ata Phillips, Chanel Phillips, Alana Strange, Tania Strange and Natasha Hill ? are in the under-17 squad and Waimarama Phillips is in the under-15s.
It is probably the biggest representation ever for Kuranui at age group level and one that should be repeated next year when all but one of this year's senior line-up is expected to be back at college again.
Well as they are performing though in the premier one series coach Strange is keeping their feet well and truly planted on the ground.
She is quick to point out that they have already to one of the top placed sides Gladstone All Blacks and with two or three equally tough games to come they still had a fight on their hands to achieve their objective of being amongst the six sides who qualify to play off for the main premier one championship.
"The top six is where we want to be and there are no guarantees we will get there yet," she said. "It's a good start but there's still plenty of work to be done." This weekend will see Kuranui play Carterton Red on Saturday at the Colombo road courts and with the Reds at the bottom of the premier one points table the college side will be well fancied to continue on their winning way.