Wanganui representative rugby coach Karl Hoskin is predicting a stop-start affair as he gives all 30 Heartland squad players paddock time during next week's pre-season game against Wairarapa-Bush at Cooks Gardens.
While the 4pm Wednesday game is billed as a friendly, the two teams will be playing for the BruceSteel Memorial Cup currently in Wanganui's cabinet.
"We have 30 players in the wider squad and have been training hard," Hoskin said yesterday.
"There's been a lot of work done behind the scenes with both the city players and those in the northern squad and I'm more than happy with the way things are shaping.
"We have another training session tomorrow night and we will name the starting line-up after that, although I will be giving all 30 paddock time next Wednesday.
"The pre-season game will be our first chance to put combinations together, so I really don't think it will be a flowing game of rugby against Wairarapa-Bush - it will be more of a stop-start affair," he said.
The pre-season work has given Hoskin confidence for the upcoming Heartland season.
"We're much further along from where I envisaged we'd be when the original plan was hatched and that's a good thing," Hoskin said.
