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The desire for payback and the sense of true desperation has infected the Active Physio Wanganui camp ahead of tomorrow's Hawke Cup clash with Horowhenua-Kapiti on Victoria Park.
Sitting last on the points table and facing the remaining minnow team who matches their overall calibre, Wanganui captain/coach Dominic Rayner is pleading for his leading batsman to improve their conversion rates from promising starts to big scores, as last weekend's disappointing six-wicket loss to Wairarapa shone the light harshly on the team's inability to bat for long periods or decent totals.
"We're definitely capable of it, guys are just letting ourselves down at the moment," said Rayner.
"This is our season this game, this weekend we are desperate to get some points. We'll be going all out."
Rayner has reversed his decision not to take the captaincy back on with Bryce Grant unavailable, rather than let the team have a third skipper in as many matches.
While the returning Mark Fraser had a good match against Wairarapa (30, 96), more will be needed and with no Grant or Brett Cameron available, much of the spotlight will fall on New Zealand Under 19 batsman Henry Collier.
With scores of 42, 9, 26 and 35 in this Hawke Cup, Collier simply must get close to triple figures to give the young players a chance to bat around him a role Ben Smith could play admirably if he wasn't sitting around a damp Taupo with the Central Districts team.
"They're getting stuck in the middle of their innings and getting out. It's a mental thing with these guys," said Rayner.
"[Playing Horowhenua-Kapiti], we want to pay them back for giving them the home game last year."
Rayner remembers the "hammering" a very understrength Wanganui took on the first day of their match against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Paraparaumu in January, where the game was moved to Kena Kena Park because Victoria Park was hosting the Festival of Cricket.
Giving up home pitch advantage and playing without Collier or Nick Blundell, Wanganui were smashed around and conceded 501 runs.
Spending day two fighting to survive, they managed to get through to 302 before being dismissed, but were bemused when Horowhenua-Kapiti sent them back out despite the fact there only 16 overs left in the game.
Max Carroll hit 50 and 71 in the match and desperately needs to recapture that form after only managing scores of 0 and 7 last weekend.
He will open with Morgan Inness, who is returning from injury, while the newcomer is Inness' younger brother Todd, who will take the gloves with Grant and Cameron both out.
Rayner said the younger Inness hit a century for Marist in the Wanganui Twenty20 competition, although he will be understandably batting down the order here.
Dominic Lock remains bracketed with John McIlraith until the assessment on his ankle, with Rayner preferring to have Lock there as a bowling option.
While Horowhenua-Kapiti have likewise been poor this campaign, they at least have a point. Also playing on an artificial pitch in New Plymouth last weekend, their last pair of batsmen managed to hold on to prevent an outright defeat to Taranaki.