Aaron Redmond and Neil Broom rediscovered their touch with 85 runs apiece to help Otago seal a dramatic two-wicket win against Canterbury in a one-day warm-up match in Rangiora yesterday.
Steel coach Janine Southby would have preferred her side's bye came later in the season.
Otago bowlers snaffled 15 Canterbury wickets yesterday to complete a satisfying two days for the province.
Dunedin could be a home away from home for the Tactix next season.
Hanna English is better known as one half of a dynamic sister act.
Otago opener Hamish Rutherford has picked up where he left off.
Otago fighters performed well enough at the national championships in Auckland last week but there is plenty of work ahead to get among the titles next year.
The summer has not started yet and already Otago is down three seamers.
What started out as fun and lighthearted way of bonding with his father has got heavy - real heavy.
What panic button? Otago did not panic when it looked as though it would miss out on a place in the semifinals and then held its cool again when Waikato cut a seven-point lead to one goal in the closing moments of yesterday's dramatic national championship final.
Rising star Te Paea Selby-Rickit claimed the major prize at the Otago Netball awards last night.
East Otago High School bowler Ethan Simpson sends down a delivery to South Otago High School batsman Tom Houghton during a McCullum Cup match at Bayfield Park yesterday. Dion Willocks watches from the other end and the umpire is Con Ratten.
The Otago Nuggets roster is shaping up beautifully, the franchise yesterday announcing Antoine Tisby would return for a fourth stint with the team.
Former Australian international Demelza McCloud had every intention of rounding out her playing career in Otago and Steel colours.
Morgan Templeton quietly claimed her fifth national women's figure skating title in Auckland earlier this week.
There will not be much in the way of cake or wine during her 22nd birthday celebrations - just training and studying for her exams.
The Steel has retained the nucleus of its squad but there are a couple of high-profile names missing from the team sheet.
If you want to see what the national netball championship cup looks like, make your way out to Dunedin International Airport at 4pm today.
For North East Valley, this summer is an opportunity to emerge from the shadows and add to the club's four senior banners. Cricket writer Adrian Seconi reports.
Former Otago shooter Jo Morrison reckons she was more anxious watching the live score updates of Otago's 59-57 win in the final of the national championships than she was popping in the goals the last time the province won the title in 1998.
