Hunger burning bright
COACH Claudia Brassard insists losing the title of defending champions has made the Townsville Fire hungrier than ever ahead of this afternoon’s blockbuster WNBL season opener.
The Fire have a point to prove after missing the grand final for the first time since 2012 last season and their road back to the top starts against title favourites the Boomers in Melbourne.
Brassard was adamant the Fire are still one of the teams to beat this season, but the second- year coach said they were happy to escape some of the scrutiny of their dual championship reign.
“I guess we don’t have the pressure of being the defending champions, but we have the hunger of getting that trophy back,” Brassard said.
“It certainly helps me, I know that for sure. I felt a lot of pressure last year and we know that we set the benchmark in terms of the standard across the league.
“We still want to set the standard and we still want to be one of those quality teams on and off the floor all the time, but it certainly does relieve a bit of pressure not having that target on your back.
“We’ve had a really good preparation. I think having everyone healthy has really helped and everyone’s come in focused.”
The Fire are ready for a tough firstround match- up against the Boomers, who are already off to a winning start after their commanding 76- 61 victory over Dandenong on Thursday night.
Liz Cambage stamped her authority in her highly anticipated return to the WNBL with 17 points and six rebounds while captain Jenna O’Hea ( 11 points, 11 rebounds, two steals) was also impressive.
The personal battle between Cambage and Townsville captain Suzy Batkovic has dominated the lead- up, but Brassard stressed it would take a strong team performance to topple Melbourne.
The Fire certainly have the size to combat the likes of Cambage, with Cayla George back on deck after spending last season in Europe, while 192cm rookie Zitina Aokuso also looks an exciting prospect.
“Melbourne are a very good team. They have a quality roster and they’re deeper than they have been in recent years,” Brassard said.
“Certainly any team that has Liz Cambage is a playoff contender right away. She’s one of the best basketball players in the world.
“I think we just focus on us. We’ve shown this year that we’ve got multiple scorers, so if we can get the ball through hands and get lots of people some touches and scoring then that’ll help.
“Obviously, we’ve got to be able to stop them and make sure that we’re limiting Lizzie’s damage and presence inside, but I think we’ve got enough size to battle that.
“We’re not going to rely just on Suzy. We certainly have more than one player that can defend and then it’ll be up to us to knock down some shots and put pressure on them.”