Duo help Fusion fire
CARA Koenen and Beryl Friday have combined in an all North Queensland front court to help the Queensland Fusion get off to a strong start in the Australian Netball League.
Ingham’s ANZ Champion- ship winner Friday and Magnetic Island’s Koenen ( pictured) form a lethal front court combination for the Fusion in the national second tier competition.
The Fusion won two of their season opening triple header in Brisbane over the weekend, with the North Queensland women playing vital scoring roles.
Friday picked up an ankle injury midway through Satur- Marian- Vixens 61 d Highland Tigers 25 Runaways 46 d Phoenix 40 Saints 45 d Burdekin 29 Neptunes — bye day night’s 50- 44 win over Tasmania, the second of the three games, but Koenen started in every match.
“It’s really good for the younger girls to see North Queensland represented and players coming from regional areas as opposed to the usual metro area,” Koenen said.
“Lots of the girls come from Brisbane and Gold Coast but it’s nice to get a bit of country in there.
“She’s ( Friday) a few years older than me so we hadn’t been on the court at the same time together too often.
“She’s really easy to work with and she’s learnt a lot from her season with the Firebirds.”
Koenen and Friday switched between the goal attack and shooter roles in the game, sharing the circle at times with Abigail Latu- Meafou, and said they were heading in the right direction in their partnership. “It’s a bit of a learning curve, this is the first time a few of the girls have played together,” Koenen said. “Working in the circle with different combinations and stuff, it takes a bit of time getting used to.”
Queensland’s next games are in Perth, where they play the Territory Storm and the Western Sting.
FINAL WHISTLE