Otago coach Steve Martin is more worried about the combinations than the scoreboard when his side plays Southland at Tahuna Park today.
Had it not been for a mad week in May, the Southern Steel may have forced its way into the ANZ Championship semifinals.
Test tickets are proving to be hot items in Dunedin this week, with up to 30 either missing or stolen, the Otago Rugby Football Union says.
Otago will be without experienced openside flanker Alando Soakai for the 2008 season.
Bowling all-rounder Ian Butler hopes a shift from Northern Districts to Otago this summer will help relaunch his international career.
If the Steel hopes to emulate what its predecessor the Sting was able to achieve on court, then the franchise needs to be innovative off the court.
Dual cricket and basketball international Suzie Bates' decision to hang up the pads and concentrate on the indoor game paid off yesterday when she was named in the Tall Ferns squad for the Olympics.
Otago umpire Jono Bredin's whistle is about to get a lot more use.
The Southern Steel ended its ANZ Championship campaign on a high with a 54-52 victory over the Queensland Firebirds at the Lion Foundation Arena in Dunedin last evening.
Poor weather caused three Soccersouth Premier League fixtures to be postponed in Dunedin at the weekend and means the top-six, bottom-four split will be delayed.
Southern Steel coach Robyn Broughton has one big regret about her side's performance in the inaugural ANZ Championship - that her team was not able to assemble sooner than it did.
The Southland Basketball Association has plenty of work ahead of it but it is serious about establishing a National Basketball League franchise in Invercargill, chairwoman Jill Bolger says.
Southern Steel coach Robyn Broughton was both elated and frustrated following her side's stunning upset win over the front-running Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic at Stadium Southland last night.
Steel coach Robyn Broughton has spent the past decade perched at the top of New Zealand domestic netball and has rarely had to settle for second.
Dunedin Technical earned a place in the Chatham Cup quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over Caversham at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday afternoon.
It is perhaps the most anonymous position on a netball court but Steel defender Erika Burgess is starting to make a name for herself at wing defence.
An Otago under-15 side has been invited to the International Challenge Cup in Singapore beginning on November 29.
Caversham will be without its No 1 striker and probably its star keeper for the crucial Chatham Cup match against Dunedin Technical at the Caledonian today.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua is determined her child will not be born in Steel country.
Northern Mystics: 47 Southern Steel: 41