Fire set to relish hitting the road
TOWNSVILLE Fire are confident they can negotiate an arduous travel schedule which will consign them to the road for nine straight days.
Saturday’s clash in Adelaide is the first of four road games in a five- match stretch for the Fire, where they will cross four different states.
After they host Melbourne Boomers in a midweek blockbuster next Thursday, the Fire hit the road to take on Perth in the WNBL cluster round, before trips to Dandenong and Sydney.
“We’re pretty smart with it now, we know how to do the right things with recovery and it’s about being as prepared as we can for the games with short preparations,” Fire coach Claudia Brassard said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time planning our itinerary for road trips and making sure we're maximising either the recovery times or training times.
“It’s going to be a big road trip and we will have one full day off. It’s nice for Americans to go and explore Melbourne, it’s a beautiful city.”
“We’re about to hit another tough part of the season with a few doubles in a row. It’s really important we got the job done when we had singles.”
After a slow start, pre- season favourites the Boomers have hit form with three straight victories, including last week’s 77- 74 victory over Adelaide where star centre Liz Cambage racked up 44 points.
Five- time league MVP Suzy Batkovic will come up against fellow Opals bigs Abby Bishop ( Adelaide) and Elizabeth Cambage ( Melbourne) the next two games.
Brassard said Batkovic’s ability to shut the duo down defensively in previous clashes this season had been undervalued externally.
“Liz killed it on the weekend and Suz gets motivated by that,” Brassard said. “What probably doesn’t get spoken of is her defence and how she’s done a good job.
“She was the best match- up against Liz Cambage all season and held her to her lowest score, the same against Abby.”
Saturday: Adelaide Lightning v Townsville Fire at Adelaide, 2pm