Adrian Seconi

The first thing you need to know about Ben Holmes is he is not a football hooligan. But he is slightly mad - mad about Portsmouth, that is.

It wasn't the whisky , gin or three or four six-packs, but it might have been the wine.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken had her way the five New Zealand franchises would be import-free zones.

In what could be considered netball's version of television reality show Survivor, evergreen midcourters Amigene Metcalfe, Jenny-May Coffin and Julie Seymour have been trying to outwit, outplay and outlast each other for more than a decade.

After an eight-year hiatus, the North Otago Penguins are dusting off the singlets for a new season.

Basketball Otago might be slightly in the red but it is delivering fillet mignon on a mince-on-toast budget, chief executive Mark Rogers says.

Southern Steel shooter Daneka Wipiiti had it all her own way the last time her side played the Canterbury Tactix.

A dejected-looking Jenny-May Coffin hobbled into the press conference, her body looking every bit as wounded as her pride.

A muted crowd of close to 3000 gave some polite applause before filing out of Stadium Southland with long faces after the Northern Mystics came back from eight goals down to snatch a 50-48 victory in Invercargill last night.

Southern Steel assistant coach Donna Wilkins is finding life on the sidelines "a little frustrating", but has not been tempted to put the bib back on.

Southern Steel coach Robyn Broughton has joined the chorus calling for a double round to be introduced to the ANZ Championship in the interest of fairness.

Nelson Giants 96 Otago Nuggets 80 The Otago Nuggets have only an outside mathematical chance of making the play-offs after notching up their 11th loss this season

Olympic sprinter Chris Donaldson might be in the twilight of his running career, but the pin-up boy of New Zealand athletics hopes a switch to bobsledding will yield a Winter Olympics medal.

Tall Ferns guard Suzie Bates is one step closer to securing her Olympic dream after helping the national side secure a historic victory over Australia at the Beijing Good Luck tournament last week.

Fresh from a long season in the UK Superleague, Steel defender Megan Hutton reckons she has plenty left in the gas tank

Northern Mystics coach Yvonne Willering wants her players to forget the team's horrid start in the ANZ Championship and just relax and enjoy the tournament one game at a time.

Otago secured two bonus days off and closed the gap on the top of the field when it blitzed Wellington by an innings and 116 runs in its State Championship match at the University Oval at the weekend.

Steel defender Katrina Grant has jokingly considered taping her gangly, spider-like arms to her body.