Chris Leslie likes to win.
Who doesn’t?
But the experienced coach is quick to acknowledge the three other teams in the new Premier Hockey League look awfully strong on paper.
He will lead the South Island-based Alpiners in the women’s competition. Aaron Ford will coach Alpiners men.
Both teams are hosting the Falcons in Dunedin tomorrow.
No-one knows quite what to expect, except it will be a step up in quality from the National Hockey Championship (NHC).
Essentially both Alpiners teams are a composite side made up of the best available players from Otago and Canterbury.
The Alpiners men’s side looks particularly strong. Canterbury won the NHC title this year and Otago won the two previous campaigns and finished third this year.
It is a madly talented squad.
The women may find the inaugural competition quite tough.
"I think there's going to be some very strong franchises, with the Falcons being one of them," Leslie said.
"When you look at the makeup of the players from Wellington, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, it's quite daunting, really.
"It's going to be a tough assignment. It will certainly be a step up from NHC in terms of the quality of the teams."
Otago has a limited presence in the Alpiners women. They are mostly made up of the Canterbury team which placed third at the NHC.
Black Stick Tessa Jopp and Annabelle Schneideman both impressed at the nationals for Otago and have made the squad.
They will be joined by Anneka Calder, who played for Otago this season but was on loan from Canterbury.
Pippa Croft missed out on a spot in the Otago team but has been named in the Alpiners.
The Alpiners have ace goal-scorer Mezzy Surridge to lean on up front. She was the leading scorer at the NHC, and Millie Calder slapped in four goals from penalty corners.
Leslie is hopeful but also realistic about his side’s prospects.
"I love winning, and so I'd never go and do a contest wanting to get second.
"We don't necessarily have the Black Sticks that a number of the other franchises have, but that's a challenge in itself.
"While we want to obviously go out and win, I am realistic. I think it's going to be a tough contest, so in terms of expectations I think as long as we're competitive in each match, I'll be very happy with that."
Regardless of the results, Leslie felt the new competition would help put the sport "on the map".
"I like the fact that it's spread over [six] weeks, and the fact that it's spread over summer is also appealing.
"And I think the fact that we're travelling around the country, we're taking the game to a number of provinces around the country is exciting."
The format will see the four men’s and four women’s teams play each other home and away.
The top two ranked teams at the end of the round-robin will play in the final, while the bottom two sides will playoff for bronze.
Ford could not be reached for comment. But Dunedin-based defender Jordan Ward tried to cast off the favourite’s tag.
"There are some pretty strong teams in this competition. There are no real wink links," he said.
"All we can focus on is getting our part right and playing the game that is in front of us."
