The Black Jacks have two world-class female players - Jo Edwards and Val Smith - who can be expected to win gold medals again in Adelaide.
The other player back in the five-strong team is the experienced Jan Khan who has been solid and reliable in the international arena.
"It is a strong women's team," head coach Dave Edwards said yesterday.
"You have the core there with Jo, Val and Jan. It is those three experienced players that make the team look strong. Jo and Val are the backbone of the team."
The survivors from 2008 men's team are Ali Forsyth and Richard Girvan.
Edwards believes the Black Jacks can emulate the success of the 2008 team that dominated World Bowls in Christchurch.
"It will be a huge challenge," he admitted. "I don't see why we can't repeat what we did four years ago."
The meticulous build-up for World Bowls started in September last year when the New Zealand elite squad of 10 men and 10 women had a camp in Adelaide and played matches against South Australia.
In November, the Black Jacks played in the Asia-Pacific championships on the World Bowls greens and took part in a six nations invitation event in May before naming the World Bowls team.
The final serious competition was the transtasman event in Adelaide last month.
New Zealand failed to win any of the trophies against Australia in the recent transtasman event.
"We had a number of non-outcome-related objectives in Adelaide," Edwards said. "We were were working on game plans and team dynamics and were able to tick those boxes."
The men's team gained confidence by beating Australia 4-0 in the first test of the transtasman series.
"It showed us that we can go into World Bowls confident that in a one-off game we can back ourselves and not fear anyone," Edwards said. "We have also worked on mental skills and how to handle the pressure."
Four members of the men's team will play in the Speight's Invitation singles on the North East Valley greens at Labour Weekend.
"We then go back to Adelaide for three days on the greens against South Australia," Edwards said.
One important aspect of the Adelaide greens that Edwards discovered was the prevailing wind that blows up "every single day.
"It kicks in at lunch time and dies down later in the afternoon. We have learnt how to play it".
The speed of the grass greens at Adelaide is around 16 seconds. The bowls react in a different way compared to the cotula greens in New Zealand.
Edwards was in Dunedin yesterday to conduct a two-day coaching clinic at the North East Valley Club in Dunedin for promising young bowlers.
A five man and five women New Zealand under-18 team will be selected for the transtasman tests against Australia in Auckland in March.
He also held clinics in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Fact File
World Bowls Venue: Adelaide.
Dates: Nov 24 to Dec 9.
NZ teams
Men: Ali Forsyth, Richard Girvan, Tony Grantham, Shannon McIlroy, Matthew Gallop.
Women: Jo Edwards, Val Smith, Jan Khan, Lisa White, Mandy Boyd.
