Southern is a side without the name players the likes of North Harbour, Auckland, Midlands or even Canterbury boast.
It does not help any when the best talent the region has produced in the past few seasons is now playing elsewhere.
Junior Black Sticks Hugo Inglis, Nick Ross and Blair Tarrant have all left the region to play for other associations.
Inglis and Ross have thrown their kit bag in with Midlands and Tarrant has transferred to Wellington.
The inability of Southern to hold on to its talent and recruit quality players has held it back.
And the standard of club hockey and lack of quality opposition has not done the team any favours.
No-one understands that better than returning coach Dave Ross, whose son Nick was one of the departing Junior Black Sticks.
Despite the hurdles Southern has often punched above its weight and will have to again if it is going to avoid the wooden spoon or even crack into the top four this season.
There are some positive signs.
Southern achieved a rare victory over Canterbury in a pre-season game and will go into its campaign opener against the same opposition at the McMillan Centre tomorrow with some confidence.
But if Southern is going to be any more than just competitive in the future then this season has to be viewed as a re-building phase.
"There is some serious quality in the opposition and we don't have any internationals," Ross acknowledged.
"So it is just about building the base of Southern hockey. I'm pleased with the progress we've made and I think that showed a couple of weeks ago when we managed to beat Canterbury.
They were without their Black Sticks but it still showed that that gap has closed.
"Having said that we are still very realistic. Obviously, we will target Northland and Central [for wins] but the rest of the teams will be tough. On our day you never know."
Southern has a useful forward line-up.
Chris Ashton has returned and is playing well and Damien Watson is expected to be one of the leading scorers along with Scott Fitzpatrick.
Ross is hopeful Matthew Young will impose himself on the opposition more this season in his new role at centre half.
He is a wiry and skilful player but needs to do more work off the ball to have a bigger impact on games.
"It is just a work-rate issue with him but he certainly has the skills. It is whether or not he can get in there and mix it physically because it is an important position, and you are always going to come up against internationals in that part of the field. So it will be a big test for him."
Defensively Southern might struggle.
A large turnover in players has decimated the defensive line-up leaving Southern with a green-looking back line.
On the positive side of the ledger Dean Ritani has returned and will skipper the side from the back.
Ritani is a solid player with good organisational skills and his combination with Australian import Nick Budgeon at the back will be crucial.
Budgeon has not arrived in Dunedin yet and will miss tomorrow's game.
National Hockey League Southern Men
Team: Dean Ritani (c), Kane Russell, Paul Gager, Damien Watson, Jono Spence, Nils Ijske, Callum Bailey, Matthew Young, Chris Ashton, Haughton Gilbert, Patrick Ward, Hayden Shaw, Scott Fitzpatrick, Todd Gould, Matt Greene, Vinesh Sima, Paul Muncaster, Nick Budgeon.
Southern's draw: v Canterbury, Dunedin, September 13; v North Harbour, September 19; v Northland, September 20; v Auckland, September 21; v Wellington, September 23; v Midlands, September 24; v Central, September 26. Finals, September 27
All matches at Porritt Park in Christchurch unless stipulated.
