Lack of flights a pain for Fever

BY BRENDON EGAN

A lack of available flights has meant West Coast Fever will be arriving in Invercargill less than 24 hours before their game against Southern Steel tomorrow night.

Fever are set to land at Invercargill Airport at 7.20 tonight after completing the mammoth 5703km journey from Perth – which has involved two stopovers and taken two days.

The side flew to Melbourne yesterday where it spent the night, and will fly to Christchurch today before boarding another plane to Invercargill. Their travel plans have been disrupted even more with the side facing a three-hour wait at Christchurch Airport before their plane to Invercargill departs.

Fever coach Jane Searle said they would love to have arrived in Invercargill a day sooner to prepare for the game, but this was the earliest they could get into town.

"There wasn't a lot of earlier flights available or connecting flights," she said. "It's a really hard place to get into."

The Perth-to-Invercargill journey is easily the longest road trip in a professional sporting competition in the southern hemisphere.

Fever were one of the big improvers in last year's competition – going from winning just two matches in 2008 to being a top-four playoff contender in 2009.

With many fringe Australian Diamonds players and Australian under-21 internationals in the side, they look a team on the rise and should pose a stern test for Steel in their season opener at Stadium Southland tomorrow night.

Searle said she was happy with the way her side was shaping up before the new season and was delighted it had managed to solve its goal-attack dilemma from last season with the off-season signings of Janelle Lawson and former Steel shoot Leah Shoard.

The battle in the midcourt between rising Australian stars Madison Browne and Shae Bolton and Steel Silver Ferns Liana Barrett-Chase and Wendy Frew looks set to be a real treat tomorrow night, and Searle believed it would go a long way to deciding the winner of the match.

"It will be two very different styles out there.

"It'll be smarts versus speed. The team that is the steadiest and most controlled is going to win."

Searle said she had been impressed by Steel in preseason and believed they would be an ideal first-up hitout for her side in the ANZ Championship.

"I expect they'll be very tough. They're a very smart team ... They played pretty well at the SOPA Cup. You can never underestimate the New Zealand teams in New Zealand. On paper, they look very strong.

As of last night, 2500 tickets had been sold, with about 500 tickets still remaining.

Tickets can be bought from Stadium Southland or online at TicketDirect.

THE LOWDOWN

WHAT: Southern Steel v West Coast Fever – round one of the ANZ Championship

WHEN: Tomorrow, 6.50pm start

WHERE: Stadium Southland

- © Fairfax NZ News