Representative duties have not dulled the performances of the two top teams in the Wanganui premier netball competition with both winning their respective games on Monday night.
During the school holiday break, when the Wanganui premier competition was put on hold, eight of the table topping Phillips Electrical-sponsored Wanganui High School team were on representative duties, while seven of the Nga Tawa girls were teammates in various age group national championships.
Despite the busy schedules, WHS thrashed East Club Sports Edge 67-36, while Nga Tawa whipped Collegiate 40-24 on Monday night.
WHS currently sit at the top of the table with 15 points, while Nga Tawa and Sports Edge are tied on 9 points with two matches to go until the semifinals.
While all Wanganui rep sides had success, of sorts, in their various assignments, the under-17 team perhaps did best finishing fourth in the national age group championships in Hastings just last week.
When the premier competition resumed on Monday night the WHS girls stepped up a gear despite their busy schedule to easily put away the strong East Club Sports Edge side - a team that is debuting this season in the premier division.
WHS coach Lisa Murphy conceded it had been a tough season for her youngsters and because of that she had given court time to players normally resigned to the bench this season and they had adapted well to new combinations.
"I played my entire squad last night using players who haven't had much of a run on premier nights. They adapted to the new combinations extremely well and we came away with the strong win," Murphy said yesterday.
"I think the entire team is feeding off the success and growing confidence of the representative players and with just two games to go before the semifinals we're in a good position. In fact, we'll finish top of the table and hopefully still be unbeaten."
Meanwhile, the Nga Tawa girls were just as impressive dispatching Collegiate.
With seven of the Nga Tawa players trekking away to national representative tournaments in the holidays, and no chance of a pre-game practice, Nga Tawa coach Marama Cameron was unsure how the girls would hold up in the first premier game.
After a first half effort that can only be described as "blowing out the cobwebs" Nga Tawa managed to find some rhythm in the third quarter to push out to a six point lead at the break.
"Once again the defensive trio of Danielle Gray, Jackie Gowler and Kelly Davenport worked tirelessly to create valuable turnovers and support the attack play throughout the court," Cameron said yesterday.
"Goal shoot Britta Turner was outstanding with her circle speed and shooting accuracy throughout the game."
Turner was well supported by Georgia Nugent-O'Leary at goal attack who worked hard on creating options on attack and providing a balance in the shooting circle.
"I'm thrilled with this new shooting combination who are playing from strength to strength with each game together.
The mid court combinations of Georgia Walford and Victoria Anstis provided good options on the circle edge and fed the ball strongly to their shooters.
"It makes such a difference to the confidence of the shooters knowing they have the support of their wing attack and centre on the right spot on the circle edge every time," Cameron said.
The race to make the top four is tight behind WHS and Sports Edge with Collegiate and defending premier title holders Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau on 9 and 8 points respectively.
They are still very much in the frame to make the top four.
Kaierau scraped through beating cellar dwellers Marist 43-37 in a close encounter on Monday night.
Kaierau coach Marie Kinloch said her team had some good patches of form and some "to-work-on" patches on Monday night, although she was pleased to come away with a win with just two matches to go before the semifinals.
"The focus now, obviously, is to make the top four and take it from there," Kinloch said.
Nga Tawa and Wanganui Collegiate meet again on Wednesday in their annual inter-school fixture being played at Springvale Stadium. Start time is 1.45pm.