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With a successful record behind him in Christchurch women's club hockey, Peter Donohue is now out to give the Canterbury Cats claws.

Canterbury haven't won the women's national league since 2002, and 43-year-old Donohue has been charged with changing that.

He comes to the job from coaching the Selwyn women for three seasons (two titles and a runners-up) and, after a year's break, guiding the Hornby women to second place last year.

This season he assisted the Selwyn men.

Donohue is confident he has a squad capable of winning the league.

Canterbury have four new caps in Jol McGarvey, Amanda Murray, Jemma Morland, and Toni Townsend.

"But the strength we have is that even though we have four new caps, all have played in the national league before for other provinces," said Donohue.

"All four are seasoned campaigners. So we have got a lot of depth through to No.18, and that will definitely be a strength for the doubleheaders."

Three of the four weekends will be doubleheaders, as well as the semis and final weekend.

Donohue said the 2007 team was full of leaders and elite players. "A good portion I have coached at club level, and most of the others I have observed over four seasons as a women's coach."

While Donohue is stepping up to interprovincial hockey for the first time, he will be backed up by experienced manager Gill Kane, ex-Black Stick Karen McMillan as his assistant, and international Stacey Carr, sidelined at present while she recovers from knee surgery, as video person.

With the Black Sticks players away for six weeks, Hornby captain Nikki Grimwood has been appointed captain in place of Meredith Orr.

The coach had the chance to assess about 30 players for the NHL when Canterbury played five matches against an Australian B team earlier this winter.

While he's a novice coach at NHL level, Donohue has had a lifetime in hockey, starting in Oamaru as a youngster, then 10 years in Auckland and 10 in Christchurch, as well as short stays in Dunedin and Timaru.

And he's also a current New Zealand international one of four Canterbury players in the New Zealand masters over-40 team which left yesterday for the world tournament in Birmingham.

Donohue got into hockey coaching 14 years ago when his sons started playing, and first coached seniors as player-coach of the Selwyn men.