There has been plenty of change on netball scene but the Southern Steel has remained much the same.
The team enters the new domestic ANZ Premiership with a very similar look to the one which won the minor premiership in last year’s transtasman competition.
Having returned its starting seven, alongside two youngsters, it will enter as favourite.
Of those, no signature was more important than that of Jhaniele Fowler-Reid.There were plenty of rumours as to where the 198cm goal shoot would end up as the transtasman league split.
But she has returned to the Steel for a fifth season and is happy with her decision.
"The main selling point would have been the fact that they’re family-orientated," she said.
"I’m big on family and my family gives me so much support and helps me to be where I am now.
"So without them most of what I’m doing wouldn’t be possible."
She said there was plenty of excitement among the team and the players were ready to go.
"It’s been a really hard preseason and I think mentally we’re prepared and physically prepared.
"So [we’re] ready to get out there and see what we have.
"Everyone’s definitely feeling pumped and a few nerves and a bit of anxiety and just wanting to go out there and get the first game behind us."
A three-time transtasman league Most Valuable Player, the 27-year-old returned to Jamaica for six months over summer.
While there she played for her country against England and was named player of the series.
She has been back in New Zealand for two months and was itching for the season to start.
"My main goal for the season is just to be dominant throughout the entire season.
"Just be strong and assist my feeders and all my team-mates the best way I can.
"Just let them know they have a safe hand when they put the ball in the circle."
The new domestic league, in which the Northern Stars will join the five existing New Zealand franchises, presents new challenges.
Most notable among them are the short turnarounds between some of the games, something the team has been preparing for.‘‘It’s going to be challenging, especially on our bodies, just to get back mentally when we have a back-to-back game.
"But I feel as though we’ve run through certain scenarios through preseason and during training that should prepare us for the back-to-back games."
The Steel will be the first team to get a shot at the Stars.
They will play at 2pm tomorrow, a day on which all six teams will play at the same venue one after the other.
It will be the first of three "Super Sundays" of the season.
"I reckon that everyone in the Stars has their strengths," Fowler-Reid said.
"They’ve been putting that together and they’re going to be real good when they come out on court against us.
"We’ve not played them before, but the good thing is we’ve played most of the players before, so we know the players.
"Them being a new team doesn’t really make a difference. But putting their team together will and just see how good they come up against us as a unit."
