Greg Smith will again take over the captaincy and through the quirk of all six associations having rain-effected games, could maintain his place as the highest run scorer in the entire competition with a good weekend - having scored two 50's amongst his 196 runs in total.
"He's worked so hard at his game, just fixed a couple of technical issues which helped his game immensely," said Marr.
While the coach knows "the guys coming back are no mugs," Marr really wants the revamped squad to finish this two-day competition in good order, especially if Taranaki beats Manawatu at home because then they could finish as high as third on the table and in the domain of the bigger teams.
"It could have even been better if we didn't get that rain off with Wairarapa.
"This is a dangerous game for us. The expectations are to go down there and win, but if we play poorly it will leave a sour taste in our mouths for the season."
And without the steady hands of Fraser and Badger in the batting order, it will take a concentrated team effort to put up challenging totals, although Marr is encouraged the likes of Matthew Boswell, Todd Inness and especially John McIlraith are coming off half century's against Manawatu after a previously barren season.
Wanganui had all but accepted they would be lacking runs from the top order, therefore promoting allrounder Nick Harding with a licence to play his aggressive style.
"We're still trying to work our way at the top. We've been 3-3 or 2-2," said Marr.
"I think the confidence should be high to put some runs on the board if the conditions are right."
Given "the dead horse" of McIlraith rose from the ashes with his dynamic 88 against Manawatu, Marr will leave the regular opener exactly where he is at No7 in the hope he can replicate the effort.
While the loss of Slight hurts the pace attack, the return of Gill and O'Leary should cover his workload nicely, although neither picked up too many wickets down in Lincoln.
No question, Wanganui would like to throw the gauntlet down by batting time for 80 overs with a challenging score, a tactic this summer which saw them nearly trip up Taranaki, have Wairarapa on the ropes before the rain, and then famously upend Manawatu.
But any slip in concentration and they will find themselves in the hole like they did against Hawke's Bay, fighting to comeback from 30-7 on the opening day.
Horowhenua-Kapiti have had a tough campaign with hammerings from Hawkes Bay and Manawatu, although they gave Taranaki a fright in November when they only lost by two wickets defending just 63 runs in the second innings.
The game starts at 10.30am.
The squad is:
Nick Harding, Matthew Boswell, Greg Smith (c), Craig Clare, Todd Inness, Dominic Rayner, John McIlraith, Thomas Walshe, Trey Bidois, Ross Kinnerley, Connor O'Leary.
