At a glance

(all games today): Canterbury v Wellington, Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch; Bay of Plenty v Counties Manukau, Tauranga Domain, Tauranga; Waikato v Auckland, FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton

(starts September 8): Otago, North Harbour, Tasman, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Northland

Northland assistant coach and media manager Scott Collins said they just had to get out on the field and compete.

‘‘It has been difficult, we only relaunched the club championship this year so we have gone from zero to 100 very fast.

‘‘Our first expectations is just being there for a start. We want to get out on the field and make ourselves visible, any win will be a bonus.

‘‘We hope to ruffle some feathers. It is the first time for a lot of the girls playing at this level.’’

Defending Premiership titleholders Canterbury will open their campaign today against Wellington, who were promoted after winning the Championship in 2018.

Canterbury have won the title for the last two seasons and are the holders of the JJ Stewart Trophy, which will go on the line today with the game being played in Christchurch.

Captain and Black Ferns halfback Kendra Cocksedge sits on 800 career points, the highest in the competition’s history.

The opening round of the competition will see six of the Premiership teams take the field – Bay of Plenty will play Counties in Tauranga, while Waikato will host Auckland.

Teams will play each opposition in their own division once throughout the round-robin, with the Championship teams advancing to quarterfinals and the Premiership teams going straight to semifinal action.