Tuhega (32) will lock horns with Canterbury front rowers Pip Love and Lucy Emery, regular starters for the Spirit last season.
''I want to smash them,'' Tuhega said.
''Phillipa, Lucy and me, that was our front row. It will be interesting to see how the scrums go. Even though they are my mates, I will show no mercy on the field.''
Tuhega, a teacher at Taieri College the past eight years, could well be playing her last game against Canterbury today.
She has played 42 matches for the Spirit since earning regular starts in 2003, but has decided this will ''definitely'' be her last season.
People might not believe her, as she said the same thing after last year, but it was time to concentrate on her family, she said.
Tuhega, a former Otago age-group softball, basketball, touch and netball representative, has three children: Orlando (10), Jeremiah (7) and Phoenix (3), with husband Nineva.
Rugby has been a part of her life since 2000, when she was the deputy head girl at Bayfield High School and decided to play rugby over netball and basketball.
She has racked up 169 caps for Pirates in the Dunedin women's competition, and was involved in the team's title-winning seasons the past two years.
Tuhega is the oldest player in the Sprit team this year, and is helping develop the youthful team.
''We're in that development phase,'' she said.
''The rest of the players are 25 and younger. I'm used to being the youngest, but I'm now the oldest, so that's a sign [it's time to retire].
''But it's a privilege to play for Otago. I love it. The friends become part of your family.''
Tuhega and her husband coached the Pirates' under-11 team, which Orlando plays for, the past season.
The team won the grade in the Dunedin competition, and Tuhega wants to continue coaching once her playing days are over.
''I'm loving teaching the new ones. I'm passionate about coaching and I know that's where I want to go after my rugby career,'' she said.
Tuhega has not ruled out playing a few games for the Pirates next year, if they are short of numbers, but is certain her time in the blue and gold jersey is almost up.
Her immediate focus is on helping the Spirit, which split its first two games against Waikato and Hawke's Bay, hit its straps after its bye week.
Canterbury is in foreign territory, at the bottom of the ladder, after suffering a heavy losses to Auckland and Counties Manukau in its first two matches.
The Spirit has not beaten Canterbury since 2006, but has an opportunity to all but end Canterbury's chances of making the semifinals if it beats the red and blacks for just the sixth time since 1999.
''I think we have got a really good chance of beating them this weekend,'' Tuhega said.
''Canterbury will be hard, but we have got a great game structure.''
Coach Duncan McEwan has opted to start Michaela Baker in the No 10 jersey today, after she impressed against Hawke's Bay a couple of weeks ago.
Otago Spirit v Canterbury
Christchurch, today, 12.30pm
Otago: Sheree Hume, Rian Sanerive, Greer Muir, Georgina McCullough, Hollie Fraser, Michaela Baker, Deirdre Roberts, Angie Sisifa (captain), Madelaine Finch, Julia Gorinski, Syreeta Norris, Epe Elisara, Gemma Tuhega, Tegan Hollows, Nicola Crawford. Reserves: Kelly Whitten, Eilis Doyle, Marilie Mostert, Zoe Whatarau, Megan Manson, Olivia Waldron, Kilisitina Moata'ane.
Canterbury: Olivia McGoverne, Keisha Grant, Tori Harding, Corrina Whiley, Elizabeth Pera, Charntay Poko, Kendra Cocksedge (captain), Irene MacArthur, Sui Pauaraisa, Laura Buckingham, Estelle Uren, Alana Bremner, Pip Love, Stephanie Te Ohaere-Fox, Jessie Hansen. Reserves: Molly Wright, Lucy Emery, Stacey Anderson, Charna Thompson, Dianne Hiini, Georgina Lindsay, Lucy Anderson.
