Wairarapa face test against champions

LEADING FROM FRONT: Renee Hemara, captain of the Wairarapa super league squad.

REALISTICALLY the end result will be of secondary importance when Wairarapa take on PIC No 1 in a super league netball competition match at the Te Rauparaha Stadium in Porirua tonight.

As the defending champions PIC No 1 are widely regarded as the team to beat again in 2015 and started their latest campaign impressively with a 95-31 win over Ulalei last week.

Wairarapa, on the other hand, are returning to super league action after a brief absence, and while they clearly have the potential to make an impact of some significance, their lack of "big match" experience is always likely to be exposed against opposition of this calibre.

And with that in mind it is hardly surprising that coach Dayle Clarkson is more focused on her side building on their own first-round effort - a 50-43 loss to Norths - than entertaining the thought of them causing an upset of mammoth proportions.

"It's the sort of game where we can concentrate on setting our own goals and work towards achieving them without worrying too much about the scoreline," Clarkson said.

Defensively this will be a huge test for Wairarapa.

PIC, who could well be strengthened by the inclusion of up to three Pulse players who will play at a pace well above what they are used to at club level and closing down their space won't be easily achieved.

"The ball movement will certainly be rapid and we've got to work hard to make the adjustments in terms of our defensive structure," Clarkson said.

"Teams like them are constantly switching the direction of play and you've got to be ready for it."

It would be wrong, however, to suggest that Wairarapa will go into tonight's game with a defensive-orientated game plan. Rather Clarkson is intent on her side being positive on attack and says they showed enough in the Norths match to suggest they could surprise PIC with their ability in that department.

"Nerves were a bit of a problem early on but, once we settled down, I thought we moved the ball through the court pretty well," Clarkson said. "Obviously, we will need to up the ante tonight but the potential is there to do that, and it's certainly one of the prime objectives."

The super league format for this year has 12 teams from Wellington, Hutt Valley, Kapiti, Kapa Mana and Wairarapa divided randomly into two pools of six and after one complete round of pool games they will then be separated into three divisions, A, B and C.

Wairarapa is initially in the same pool as Norths, PIC, Ulalei, St Mary's Old Girls No 2 and Naenae White, with Clarkson optimistic they can secure enough points to end up in the B division for the play-offs.

The Wairarapa squad is: Renee Hemara (captain), Bailey Peterson, Anna Garnett, Evie Langlands, Hannah Brewer, Shayanne Aporo, Georgia Oliver, Tino Atonio-Johnston, Brooke Sim, Taylor Carson-Butler.