It will be an extremely youthful Selkirk Sovereigns side, with all members aged between 18 and 24.

With such a young line-up comes an unknown about what we will see from the Sovereigns, but coach Guy Keane also said there was plenty to be excited about.

Keane was realistic about what the 2018 VNL season might hold for his developing group, and taking home the four points every week may not always be the prime goal.

Keane said winning quarters and ticking off little goals within games would be just as important to developing throughout the season.

“It’ll be a really young and developing group of athletes, but that’s also exciting, you’ll get to see plenty of growth and development throughout the year,” Keane said.

“We’re all realistic around what our goals are. It will take a bit of time to keep building on our connection, but everybody’s really keen. It’s really about us developing individually, but also looking at putting that together as a team out on the court.

“We’ll put little targets together on a weekly basis and work hard to achieve those.

“A lot of these players are looking to step up to the next level and prove themselves.”

Sovereigns will face Ariels on Sunday, a match-up Keane believes is very winnable for his side. Ariels are similarly young to the Sovereigns and if it can execute its game plan, an early win could be on the cards.

“Ariels will be in a fairly similar position to us, they’re quite a young, inexperienced group.

“I’m really confident if we put out our best netball we can come away with a first-up win which would be really encouraging for the girls.”