KEY POINTS:
The Silver Ferns are missing from this year's national regional championships and so is any kind of form guide.
Scanning through the 12 first division teams, who line up in their first game of the competition today, it is hard to figure out who is in with a
chance of claiming the national title and who isn't.
Defending champions Waikato go into the event without Irene van Dyk, Laura Langman, Casey Williams and Joline Henry.
Auckland, Waikato's opponents in last year's final, are missing key shooters Maria Tutaia and Paula Griffin.
North are without Temepara George and Leana de Bruin and Southland are missing Adine Wilson, Tania Dalton and Donna Wilkins.
All of a sudden it all seems a lot more even.
And so while it's too difficult to predict a winner, one team being talked up is Western - maybe not as an eventual winner but as a team that could push their way into the top four.
They finished sixth last year but have been boosted by the inclusion of punchy midcourter Liana Barrett-Chase from Waikato. Other arrivals are Daneka Wipiiti and Flyers players Abbie Bailey-Nowell, Amber Bellringer, Lana Phipps, Lauren Burgess and Jodi Hikuroa, which could give them an advantage over many of the other teams who have barely set foot on court together.
Another team worth keeping an eye on will be Canterbury, who have strength at both ends of the court but might be lacking a little in the middle.
Auckland, North and Waikato have new-look lineups but should feature around the top four.
And there is plenty to play for. Up for grabs are places in the New Zealand A and under-21 squads and the Tasman Trophy teams.
But the creation of the Tasman Trophy has meant the national regional competition is now under review.
The competition is the breeding ground for New Zealand's top players and needs to evolve to ensure New Zealand continues to produce quality players and a massive gap doesn't emerge between the Tasman Trophy and the next tier down.
Some argue that the national regional format needs to change. One weekend of games and a week-long tournament is simply not long enough.
The difficulty is that being an amateur sport players cannot afford to give up too much of their time.
Auckland Waitakere captain Anna Scarlett said the answer was not simple.
"I have talked about it with a few people and a rugby NPC-type structure may be the way to go. But there might have to be some sort of financial gain if it was a weekly thing," she said.
"A week-long tournament is not really enough for players to develop. This campaign we have only had 10 trainings as a team. Also a week of netball these days is really hard on the body.
"Netball has got so much more physical. Rugby players don't play for a week because they get smashed so much. Netball is turning a bit that way."
