Robert van Royen

Close, but no cigar.

Te Paea Selby-Rickit might finally be in line for some regular court time this season.

The Adelaide Thunderbirds and West Coast Fever get the revamped ANZ Championship competition and a busy netball year started tomorrow night. Netball writer Robert van Royen singles out three New Zealand players and two coaches who might be feeling a little bit of extra pressure this season.

The eighth instalment of the ANZ Championship is about to make a busy sporting calendar even busier. Netball writer Robert van Royen looks ahead to what we might expect from the revamped competition.

Being in the right place at the right time - and having a safe right hand - could see Dunedin man Jamie Gough pocket more than $330,000.

Pre-season losses are far from the end of the world, but Southern Steel captain Wendy Frew says the team has got a lot of ''hard work'' to do before the season opener on Sunday night.

Otago rowers added a bunch of medals to their tally on the penultimate day of the national rowing championships on Lake Ruataniwha yesterday.

Caryl Kennett struggled to find words to describe how she felt about the New Zealand men's pursuit team winning gold at the world track championships in Paris yesterday.

Gina Crampton has plenty to play for in the Steel's final two pre-season games this weekend.

Southern United's season has turned ugly off the field, with captain Victor da Costa effectively walking out on the team with four games left in the season.

Otago scooped itself off the bottom of the Plunket Shield standings with a convincing six-wicket win in Wellington yesterday.

Otago crews won two bronze medals at the national rowing championships on Lake Ruataniwha yesterday.

It was not pretty, but the Black Caps scraped past Scotland by three wickets yesterday in the first of three Cricket World Cup matches in Dunedin.

Danica Davies broke two Otago heptathlon records on her way to the national junior women's title in Hamilton at the weekend.

As Ross Dykes nears the end of his innings with Otago cricket, the soon-to-be-retired chief executive is lapping up the World Cup without the usual responsibility of playing host.

Madaline Spence continued her record breaking season at the Otago championships at the weekend.

Ben Anderson has accomplished what he could not do a year ago at the Otago championships - the 800m and 1500m double.