The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic are looking to better themselves this year and remind the opposition they are the defending championships of the ANZ Championship.

The 14-strong squad opened the pre –season with a magic start defeating the Northern Mystics 83-31 in Auckland last night.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua says the win was a good outing for the team to see how they matched up against the opposition.

'It was just a good outing for us to see how well we are doing. Or see how far or close we're going in regards to the opposition but definitely about us putting the stuff out there that we've been practising over the last couple of months.”

The Magic will meet the Central Pulse at the Australian Institute of Sport in New Plymouth on Saturday and Sunday.

'That's going to be another good opportunity for us to get out on court.

``It's a good testing time, provides the opportunity to get individuals out there to see where they are at and a chance to look at a variety of combinations.''

With the arrival of Tanya Dearns coming in as assistant coach Magic are introducing some new strategies, put in place at the defensive end of the court this season, which Noeline hopes to see put to the test during the warm-up matches.

The 2013 season welcomes back experienced defender Jodi Tod-Elliott and some new faces including former Canterbury Tactix shooter Ellen Halpenny, Kendra Falefitu, defender Jamie-Lee Price and mid-courter Nadia Loveday.

'We're lucky where we've got a good base of players who have been involved with magic for quite a number of years.

'They provide us a backbone to what's happened in the previous year and then we've also got four new girls that have come into the mix.

'It's always exiting because they bring in different personality and it changes the chemistry of the team. At the moment the balance is very good.”

Starting the season as defending champions Noeline couldn't be happier with the team's preparation so far, and with another win in mind, she says Magic are always looking to improve.

'Some of the most exciting things that I'm happy with at the moment is that we are pushing each other and looking to further ourselves or progress ourselves in comparison to last year.

'Were definitely in a good mind set to make sure that were not comfortable and we do want to get better.

'We're not in the mind set of defending we're just going out there to win.

'In the bigger picture we really want to start looking at what our goals are as a team and the standards that we set and being able to strive for that week after week.”

The 2013 team is: Leana de Bruin, Kendra Falefitu, Ellen Halpenny, Laura Langman, Nadia Loveday, Erena Mikaere, Jamie lee Price, Elias Shadrock, Jodi Tod Elliott, Jess Tuki, Jess Waitapu, Khao Watts, Casey Kopua and Irene van Dyk.