Netball Otago has made a small profit but funding the game remains a struggle and changes to the way the game is delivered are just around the corner, regional manager Nicki Paterson says.
The cricket rivalry between Otago Boys' High School and Christ's College is 125 not out.
You cannot win a game of netball when you manage only six goals in a 15-minute period.
Is one-day cricket still a contest between bat and ball? Cricket writer Adrian Seconi takes a light-hearted look ahead and predicts changes to the format surely mean New Zealand will emerge victorious at this month's World Cup.
Steel coach Robyn Broughton has said it before and repeated it again earlier this week.
With the season hanging in the balance, the Otago camp must have wondered if it had done the right thing leaving the batting power play until deep in the innings.
While others have been attracting all the headlines with hundreds and five-wicket bags, Otago wicketkeeper-batsman Derek de Boorder has been quietly building a reputation as a man for a crisis.
It is hard to imagine a worse build-up for the Steel for its opening match against the Northern Mystics in Auckland tonight.
No. No. No. No Daneka Wipiiti, no Natasha Chokljat, no Sheryl Scanlan made for a long night for the Southern Steel during its ANZ Championship opening match against the Northern Mystics in Auckland last night.
All-rounder Sam Wells has recovered from a knee injury and has been named in a predictable Otago 12 for its Plunket Shield match against Canterbury in Queenstown tomorrow.
The one-day and twenty/20 tournament might be history but there is still plenty of time left to make a mark this summer.
The Southern Steel will not be waving the white flag, but a little divine intervention on the physio table might help.
The hard work paid dividends for promising Wanaka sculler Saasha Bruce yesterday when she made the senior single sculls final at Lake Ruataniwha.
Otago Country manager and long-serving scorer Malcolm Jones had to choke back the tears when he told the boys - his boys - he was ending his 30-year association with the Hawke Cup team.
Thirty-six years have passed but the accolades are still flowing for master batsman Glenn Turner.
Steel midcourter Liana Leota has always had flair but last season she added consistency, and it did not go unnoticed. The tournament's most valuable player can expect some tight marking this season as teams look for ways to close down the Steel's attack.
Otago coach Mike Hesson has not ruled out a surprise shift to Wellington next season.
Otago's campaigns in coloured clothing this summer ranged from really dreadful to quite brilliant. Ultimately, though, the top order was not consistent enough to help claim one of the two trophies on offer. Cricket writer Adrian Seconi reports.
Would the real Tim McIntosh please stand up.
The decision to award a Silver Ferns test to Invercargill this year should not be viewed as a snub to Dunedin, Netball New Zealand operations manager Kate Agnew says.
