Cougars’ first loss doesn’t faze coach
GEELONG Cougars coach Gerard Murphy says the side’s first loss of the season wasn’t a loss of form.
The Cougars added Collingwood netballer Alice Teague-Neeld and Melbourne Vixens’ training partner Tayla Honey to the line-up for Wednesday night’s match against Boroondara Express, but fell three points shorts in the Round 6 VNL clash.
“We had a couple of Suncorp players playing with us, so there were new combinations to work through,” Murphy said.
“We were down by 10 at half time and came back to lose by three, so it took a little bit for them to adjust to the changes. Another five minutes and we might have been there I think.”
But Murphy wouldn’t dwell on the side’s first loss of the season, instead expressing his content at the 5-1 record his side boasts.
“This time last year we were probably already at the reverse,” he said. “We would have been two wins three losses, so it’s certainly swung around now.
“We’ve had a good start to the season and I’d expect that will continue. We’d be expecting to stay in top two or hoping to continue our form to remain in the top two, and I think the team is expecting that as well. It’s certainly within their goals and capability to do that.”
The next three weeks will sort out the Cougars’ standing in the league, however, with bumper clashes against Melbourne Uni and DC North East Blaze beckoning.
“They won last season as well so this is a good test,” Murphy said of next week’s game against MU.
“They’ve had a few changes in players but going by where they’re at this season, it’s a really good test in benchmarking us against where we need to progress to to make sure we’re in the finals and into the grand final.
“If we get a good match (result) next week against MU, that’ll put us in a good position.”