Southern Storm captain Sophie Wickens spends the week knocking out press releases and the weekend knocking in goals - hopefully.
The 27-year-old midfielder works for a marketing and public relations firm in Auckland but will be in Dunedin this weekend for the Storm's game against North Harbour at the McMillan Hockey Centre tomorrow .
The Storm has struggled to be competitive in the National Hockey League during the past decade but improved to finish sixth in the eight-team competition last season.
It lost 4-0 to Canterbury in its season-opener in Christchurch last weekend but Wickens felt there was some good signs.
''I've got no doubt our girls are up to the task [against North Harbour],'' Wickens said.
''Last weekend against Canterbury gave us a really good platform to go forwards. It did take us 15min to find our feet, and obviously there are things we need to work on, but they are just easy fixes.
''And we will play a different game to what we did last week. We needed to be defensive against Canterbury but this week we can focus a bit more on our attack and hopefully slot some goals away.''
Storm coach Rod Rzepecky underlined the same point. The Storm made perhaps a dozen circle penetrations but could not convert that pressure with a goal. Rzepecky hopes today's team practice will give everybody ''a better understanding of what each other can do in the circle''.
''And as long as we are marked up in the middle, then our midfield is as good as theirs, if not better. So I just think if we can target their back four, then we will definitely get some really good outcomes.''
Part of the challenge last weekend was the Storm had only just come together as a team the night before the game.
Wickens is part of a large contingent of Storm players who are based in Auckland. While it is not ideal to have the team split between two centres so far apart, the Auckland group train together under Rzepecky, who is also based there.
''Obviously, it is one of our biggest challenges. We don't have the luxury of spending three months together as a team, like most other NHL teams do.
''But, in some ways, this year has been quite a lot better for us, because we have had six or seven of us in Auckland and we've really got on the front foot and have been training together for the past six weeks, which is a change, because we did not do that last year.''
Speedy Black Sticks midfielder Petrea Webster and Black Sticks striker Kirsten Pearce shape as two players the Storm will need to mark closely. Australian import Katy Symons is also very sharp in front of the goal.
The Southern Dogs are also playing North Harbour. That games gets under way at 2pm. The women's match is slated for a noon start.
Black Sticks and Dogs defender Blair Tarrant told the Otago Daily Times earlier this week he was expecting North Harbour to be one of the most difficult games of the season.
''If we are not switched on in defence they will punish us,'' he said.
North Harbour beat Northland 6-3 in its opening game, while Southern was unlucky to lose to Canterbury in a shoot-out 5-4.
Dogs player Gabriel Rawcliffe has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament after picking up a hamstring strain in the opening game. Fellow Albany midfielder, Richmond Lum, comes into the squad as a replacement.
Lum, who is from Pukekohe, represented Southern at the national under 21 tournament in May this year, after moving south for university.
