From the Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)

Player-coach key to Southern success
By Alistair McMurran

Player-coach Marty Gray will play a key role in the Southern Pride team that is keen to stamp its mark on the national men’s league in Auckland at the weekend.

It is Gray’s second year in the role and he wants the team to improve on its dismal showing last year, when it failed to win a game.

“I believe we have enough talent to win some games this year,” Gray said from Nelson yesterday.

Provinces in the Southern Pride franchise are Otago, Southland, Marlborough and Nelson.

This makes it difficult to develop combinations, as it is impossible for the team to practise together outside game weekends.

“It will take a huge collective effort from our team to reach the play-offs,” Gray said.

But it is not impossible – Southern Pride made the play-offs in 2006.

Auckland, with its team of eight current or former Black Sox players in its 13-member squad, has won the league for the past two years.

It beat Wellington in last year’s final.

The team is spearheaded by player-coach Donny Hale and pitchers Heinie Shannon and Thomas Cameron.

There is also experience in the Canterbury, Hutt Valley and Wellington teams.

The league is contested over three weekends, with double round-robin games in the first two and then the finals.

The second weekend of games for the men will be in Christchurch on January 31 and February 1 and the finals weekend is scheduled for Hutt Valley on February 28.

This weekend’s round robin games in Auckland will give an indication of the strength of the Southern Pride team.

A lot depends on the ability of Gray, who has pitched for the Black Sox for the last 18 years and is the veteran of the New Zealand softball scene.

The five draft players in the team are Casey Eden (Auckland) who is the catcher, pitcher Richie Clarke (Hutt Valley), third base Haizley Martin (Wellington), and Auckland rookies Carlos Te Kawa (short stop) and Jamie Matiu (outfielder).

A key player in the team is Nigel Kelly (Nelson) who has played in four of the eight years the national league has been played.

There are three Otago players in the team and one of them is outfielder Chris Anderson (Alexandra), who is one of the five rookies in the Southern Pride squad.

The Dunedin players in the team are Scott Cartwright and Daniel Tarapi.

Southern Pride Squad

Marty Gray (Nelson) player-coach, Scott Cartwright (Dunedin), Daniel Tarapi (Dunedin), Derryn French (Nelson), Casey Eden (Auckland), Richie Clarke (Hutt Valley), Nigel Kelly (Nelson), Haizley Martin (Wellington), Chris Anderson (Alexandra), Kyle Marfel (Blenheim), Ryan Schollun (Blenheim), Carlos Te Kawa (Auckland), Jamie Matiu (Auckland).