Otago Spirit coach Duncan McEwan will name his squad for the upcoming women's NPC early next week.
McEwan is preparing for his first season in charge and will initially name a slightly larger squad, due to injuries.
Including the wider-training group, he will name about 30 players for the coming season.
McEwan confirmed Black Fern and last year's captain Angie Sisifa would again lead the team.
Talented Varsity flanker Georgia Mason's knee injury is the biggest worry heading into the season.
She suffered a grade two MCL tear in the club final, which Pirates won, at the weekend and is expected to miss between four and six weeks.
That will see her at least miss the pre-season match against Canterbury next weekend and the first couple of games of the regular season.
Just where next weekend's pre-season match will be played is yet to be confirmed. It was to be played in Temuka, but could now be played in Pleasant Point.
Holly Fraser (rotator cuff) will also miss that match, but is expected to be fit for the season-opener against Waikato in Hamilton on August 22.
McEwan, who replaced John Hyde as coach, said he was ''extremely excited'' about coaching the Spirit this year.
It is the first time he has coached women, but he has previously coached from junior right through to age-group representative level, including the Otago under-16 team last year.
''I've been working with these girls for a few months now and I've really enjoyed working with them,'' he said.
''Their attitude is great, their enthusiasm is enormous and the speed that they learn is amazing. They want to learn, that's the cool thing about it.
''There is a difference between coaching men and women that I'm learning. The difference is we are dealing with a range of ages that goes from schoolgirls through to university students through to working mums.
''There are a lot more things that impact on their lives and their ability to train and develop that's different from when you are dealing with male players.''
With only a few weeks between the club competition wrapping up and the start of the NPC, McEwan said the work the players had been putting in during the club season was crucial.
A wider training group has practised together once a week for the past three months, and McEwan has been engaging with clubs and the secondary school representative programme to get an ongoing development cycle going in the women's game.
''Ideally we would like to pick a squad out of 50-60 elite-level players instead of 35,'' he said.
''We have small player numbers right across the board in Otago ... we have got a smaller talent pool in the region than any other region we play against. Building depth is always an ongoing investment.''
However, a lack of depth is not stopping McEwan from aiming high in his first season in charge. With assistant coach Gareth Waldron, he is aiming for at least a spot in the semifinals.
''Our actual goal is to make a final, which we have never done before; that would be brilliant. We would love to even get another step further than that, obviously, but this is a work in progress.''
