Signs look good for season, says coach

Giants men's softball coach Tony Nixon says the signs are encouraging for the 2007-08 season.
After six weeks of training his side will front up to their first pre-season assignment when they play a double header against one of the country's strongest club sides, Poneke-Kilbirnie, at their South Park headquarters in Masterton on Saturday.
It will be a testing pipe-opener for a Giants squad, whose 2006 campaign was very much a case of close but no cigar.
They were third in the Hutt Valley competition, fourth in the Inter-City series which features the top Wellington and Hutt Valley clubs and a very creditable seventh at the nationals.
The two matches against Poneke-Kilbirnie which will get under way at 1pm and 3pm will start a hectic few weeks for Giants, including another pre-season tournament at Kapiti on October 5 and 6, the start of the Hutt Valley competition on October 13 where Giants will have a home game against a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent and Giants's own 'skins' tournament at South Park over Labour weekend.
Nixon is delighted with the strength of his current squad despite the fact they are missing two of the Canadians who played for them last season, Curtis Ames and Corey Kinnon, both of whom have returned home.
Ames, especially, will be a big loss as he was not only the first string pitcher but also the team's best batter.
The loss of Ames and Kinnon has been tempered, however, by the acquisition of another two Canadians, Michael Grant and Craig Sarson, who were attracted to the Giants club by an advertisment placed on an international softball website.
Grant is a catcher who can also play in the infield which Sarson is an infielder and while Nixon has seen neither of them play he is impressed by their credentials.
"We've checked them out as much as we can and the reports have been very favourable," he said
A third notable gain for Giants is a catcher from the Hawke's Bay in Joseph O'Leary, a former member of the Black Sox training squad who joined Giants as an invited player for one tournament last season and Nixon liked what he saw.
"He's sharp in the field and a useful batter & his versatility should come in very handy," he said.
With pitchers of the calibre of Justin Karaitiana, Richie Clarke and Blair Thompson in their line-up Giants should be well served in that crucial department while other locals fronting up again include Mark Quinn, Terry Waitere, Ryan Shannahan and Gordon Wilmshurst plus erstwhile team manager Bryan Hourigan.
Nixon said the objective for Giants in 2007-08 was simple, improve on what they did last season.
"We've got a team which should be competitive at all levels so aiming high is the only way to go," he said.
Nixon is also keen for Giants to find the major sponsor which has so far eluded them despite some intensive groundwork being done in that area and despite them being one of Wairarapa's most successful sporting teams in recent times.
"We've had a few nibbles but nothing definite so far & it would be nice to have something firmed up in that regard," he said.