THERE'S a lot to work on - that was the honest appraisal from Souths coach Chris Stafford after his side went down 3-2 to Bathurst City in Saturday's women's Premier League Hockey season opener.
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But the good thing for Stafford is that he knows he has plenty of talent within his squad to work with.
Souths had a host of new combinations in action on Saturday and while they involved players with a lot of hockey experience - the likes of Jess and Sarah Watterson, Emma White and Candice Falconer in a two blues shirt - the interrupted preparation showed.
The COVID-19 outbreak meant Souths did not get any trial matches before the 10-week competition began and their training was limited as well.
On top of that, Souths was missing some of last year's squad for the season-opening derby.
"It was a bit scrappy but look, we've really only had like two proper training sessions because of the restrictions. Most of the girls haven't played together before," Stafford said.
"Look I don't know how many games Jess will be available for, but we were missing Ali Stanford, Daisy Morrissey, Kirsten Fitzpatrick - so we were missing a few.
"We did some of the stuff we spoke about, but there's a lot to work on."
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While not able to convert one, Souths did manage to earn three penalty corners during the contest.
Stafford also pointed out one of City's goals came via an intercept, one via a long ball played in behind Souths defence and another from a penalty corner.
"Realistically most City's chances came from back near halfway, their circle penetrations came from a long way out and it was after we'd been pushing up putting pressure on them," he said.
"They threw a couple of good passes and then they put the pressure on our goal. Who knows? They could be the benchmark of the competition for all we know."
