Chelsea show set for Tassie debut
STAR import Chelsea Poppens is ready for the Lady Supercats’ double header weekend in Tasmania after arriving in Geelong on Monday.
The former WNBA forward met teammates and got her first look at Geelong Arena on Monday night as she looks to shake off jet lag ahead of a big introduction to SEABL basketball.
Daniela Wallen, the Lady Supercats’ second import, arrived in Australia on Tuesday, the pair set to boost the stocks at Dave Herbert’s disposal.
Poppens, a former Melbourne Boomer, said she had heard great things about Geelong from her Australian friends.
“I asked around once my agent asked me if I wanted to go,” the 27-year-old told the Geelong Advertiser.
“Since I knew people here, I just asked and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, come on over, it will be good to see you again’.
“It didn’t take much. I was like, ‘I’m not going to do anything in the summer and they sound really nice’, and I had heard good things from everyone I had spoken with.
“Plus they won last year, so that was nice.”
Poppens said injuries had plagued recent northern hemisphere summers, but the opportunity to play basketball Down Under opened up this season.
The 188cm tall has just come off a European winter playing with Telge in Sweden’s top tier.
“I was supposed to go to the finals in Sweden but that didn’t happen; we lost in the semis, so I ended up going home for a bit,” she said. “I had a hamstring issue that I was resting up, but technically I would have got here later if we went further in the tournament.
“It’s been almost three weeks since we had semi-finals in Sweden, so it will be good to get back on the court.”
Her debut will be against Launceston tomorrow night before the side backs up against Hobart on Sunday.
“I’m just trying to recover this week as I only got in, so hopefully I’ll be back on time by then,” she said.