The Southern Steel finally get to come up against some new faces at the annual Ōtaki preseason tournament getting under way tomorrow.
All six ANZ Premiership teams will be looking to get the most out of their three games — the Mainland Tactix and Northern Stars will only play two — across the three days.
The Steel play the Stars and the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic on Saturday, followed by the Northern Mystics on Sunday.
"We’ve had six weeks of preseason now, so it’s good for you to see where we’re at leading into the season," Steel head coach Wendy Frew said.
"Having a good look at our attack and our defensive structures and where we can improve on what we need to put into our training for the next month before we have our first game."
There has been plenty of movement among the teams during the offseason — the Steel are one of the fortunate teams to have retained seven players from 2025 — and the tournament is a good opportunity to scope out new faces.
"I guess preseason, no-one really shows their full cards, but it’s still good to see what players are in the other teams."
Innovations including the two-point shot for the final five minutes of every quarter, time-outs and umpires wearing microphones will return for their second season.
The two-point shot, in particular, has changed the game, with some teams employing specialist shooters for the long-range shot.
"We’re always trying to look for ways to evolve and play that ... better.
"I think now that we’ve had a year of it, we know a little more about it and how we want to attack it, and also how we want to defend it too.
"It’s pretty exciting and hopefully with it being year two, there might be a bit more excitement and people might take that risk a little bit more."
The entire Steel squad is expected to travel to Ōtaki, including training partners Holly McRae and Ella Southby.
Wing defence Renee Savai’inaea is carrying a niggle and is unlikely to play.
Considering the Steel’s horror run of injuries in recent years, Frew was pleased the majority are ready to go and credited their work in the offseason.
"The girls put in so much effort in the preseason before they came to us.
"I think that’s really been helpful and benefited us just being able to attack it and get to work."
