Wairarapa will have three new faces in their starting line-up when they front up to Kapiti-based KBJ in a regional super league netball match to be played at the Walter Nash Stadium in Taita on Sunday. In a deliberate move to give her reserve players greater match time coach Kelly Sargenthas brought in Ella Biggs at wing defence, Cindy Cooper at wing attack and Ashleigh Somerville at goal attack. Joining them will be Lisa Butler at goalkeep, Sarah Brooking at goal defence, Carlene Karaitiana at centre and Sargent herself at goal shoot. There will also be a new face amongst the reserves with the experienced Celia Donaldson replacing Kim Holstead. Some may question the wisdom of making so many changes to a side which has yet to taste defeat but Sargent is confident it will make little, or no, difference to the end result. "We have a lot of depth in the squad and I don't see it being a risk at all," she said. "And anyway we need to ensure that all players are given adequate court time just in case we have injury problems in the weeks ahead." Sargent believes the key to Wairarapa's past successes has been a strong start with the side continually getting out to a good lead by the end of the first quarter. And she is keen for them to continue that trend against a KBJ side which promises to be their stiffest assignment yet. "Starting well is so important, it gives you confidence and knocks the confidence of the opposition," she said. Sargent also believes Wairarapa has benefitted from opposition teams taking them lightly. "They didn't know a lot about us and I think they may have looked on us as easy beats," she said. "Obviously that's not going to be a factor now though, is it?"
