After getting its Women's Basketball Championship campaign under way with a win over Waitakere on Sunday, the Gold Rush begins its first tournament today in Auckland.
First up, it plays the Rotorua Lady Vols this morning, before facing the Te Tai Tokerau Phoenix tonight.
Tomorrow looks to be a tough day, with matches against two traditional powerhouses in the Waikato Wizards and Harbour Breeze.
It finishes against the Waikato Country Cannons on Saturday morning.
While that no doubt poses a challenge, it is something WBC players are used to.
''It's pretty much business as usual, really,'' Gold Rush coach Todd Marshall said.
''It's just what it is in the women's game and that's the way it has been for the last few years.
''So we're aware of that. Fitness has always been one of our strengths so it is what it is, we don't really dwell on it.
''We've done the work we think we need to do in training, so we're ready to go really.''
Danielle Frost will return to the side, having missed Sunday's game with a dislocated finger.
Soraya Umaga-Jensen also returns, having been at an Otago rugby sevens camp last weekend.
Janet Main will link up with the team, having relocated to Whangerei.
She had been with the squad for the majority of the pre-season, so was expected to slot in smoothly.
Captain Natalie Smith had tweaked her ankle during the win over Waitakere, although had been shooting in the gym this week.
Marshall did not expect it to be an issue, although admitted five games might put some pressure on it.
Regardless of the injury situation, squad depth would be important and that was something Marshall was confident the Gold Rush had.
''I look at what I've got and I'm pretty confident with the 12 [players] I've got, that I can actually use 12.
''Sometimes in a game it just depends on the feel of the game and how things are going.
''It can be hard to use 12 players; that's quite a few.
''But across five games I think everyone's going to get plenty of opportunity to get some court time.
''I'm pretty comfortable with the squad I've got, so I'm quite happy using any of my 12 players.''
He said it was always tough to know how strong opposing teams would be early in the season, but hoped to scope them out over the weekend.
Varsity has claimed its first win of the season in the second round of women's club basketball.
It beat the Andy Bay Falcons 64-53.
After a close first quarter, Varsity opened up a 31-24 lead at halftime.
It was able to extend that to 52-30 in the third, before the Falcons fought back in the final period.
Estelle Schuler top-scored for Varsity with 14 points, while Tayla Macdonald had 15 for the Falcons.
The game between South Pacific Magic and Ajax was rescheduled.
