New Pulse to make most of netball shootout

Mar 15, 2016 - 5:57 AM The Central Pulse, who have the trans-Tasman netball league's most-changed side, are about to get a gauge of where they stand two weeks out from the new season.

The Pulse will be among the five teams competing on Saturday and Sunday in the Sydney leg of the championship pre-season shootout.

Apart from a new coach in Tanya Dearns, the Wellington-based franchise have a squad with seven recruits, the most of any side in the league.

Skipper Katrina Grant says the weekend will be important for the Pulse ahead of their round-one clash on April 4 with the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

"We're taking it pretty seriously in making sure we do all the right things," she said.

"There's quite a few games, so we should be able to rotate a bit, get everyone on court and really consolidate what we've been working on in the last few weeks."

The Silver Ferns' defender is taking positives from the number of the changes to the Pulse roster for 2016.

"Having seven new players hasn't been a bad thing at all," Grant said.

"You can start from scratch without having any pre-conceived ideas. Things that have happened in the past don't come up now and it has made us work harder at getting to know each other."

The Pulse's opponents in Sydney will be the Mainland Tactix, NSW Swifts, Melbourne Vixens and West Coast Fever.

Auckland will host the league's five other teams on the same weekend.

The matches in both cities on Sunday will feature a trial of new rules, including a three-point scoring zone.

Source: AAP