Sirens on high alert for rival Rollers
Nelson’s roller derby team are planning a hard-hitting attack when they meet their South Island rivals in a grudge match this weekend.
The Nelson Bays Sirens of Smash will play Christchurch’s Living Dead Rollers (LDR) on Saturday.
While LDR is ranked lower than the Sirens in the national table - in 19th place against the Sirens’ 15th - the Christchurch team won last time the two met.
Captain Fay ‘‘Precious’’ McKenzie said the Sirens were not underestimating LDR.
‘‘They have a strong line-up and will be keen to take a home win from us,’’ McKenzie said.
‘‘They have the benefit of being part of a big league and of having more experienced players to train with.
However, the Sirens are on top form and ready to play a hardfought game.’’
She said the Sirens were down a couple of strong players. ‘‘We’ll need to pull some jammers from the bench.’’
In roller derby, jammers are the point scorers who skate around the track trying to push their way through a wall of blockers from the opposing team and scoring a point for each blocker they pass.
Coach Cherie ’’Crunch’’ Drummond said her players were bringing a ‘‘boom, take this’’ approach to the game after beating the Christchurch side repeatedly in the past before losing to them last August in the final of a Dunedin tournament.
Mckenzie said spectators would also benefit from a new sound system that was installed at the Tahunanui rink in the past week, as in the past the game commentary had been difficult to hear.