RAYS GET GREEN LIGHT FOR FUN
NORTHERN Rays coach Jillian Joyce has encouraged her players to enjoy their final time on court for 2019 as the club promises a full review into their tumultuous first season in the Sapphire Series.
The Rays will play their last game of the season against the Carina Tigers at the Queensland State Netball Centre in Brisbane tomorrow afternoon.
The new club has endured a tough campaign both on and off the court as the Rays are yet to win a game while their participation was suspended for a round in July when they hit financial troubles.
Joyce conceded the unique challenges of their decentralised training program had also taken a toll on their performances with the 10player squad split between Townsville and Cairns.
It means the Rays only have limited chances to prepare together and Joyce felt that lack of cohesion showed last weekend as they slumped to a 90-25 loss to the unbeaten Brisbane North Cougars.
Joyce said the Rays had “nothing to lose” against the Tigers tomorrow and she hoped they could use that final game to rebuild their confidence after overcoming so many setbacks this season.
“I think the main motivation is just to finish on a positive and have some fun. It’s been a long and tiring season and we’ve had some setbacks along the way,” she said.
“I want them to play with confidence and I want them to play with a bit of freedom that they seem to have lacked over the last couple of weeks.
“I think that’s starting to actually really show on court and I’d just like them to remember the fact that they did a lot of hard work over a lot of years to get here.
“They deserve to be here and they are good enough to compete at this level.”
Joyce stopped short of saying the Rays were playing for their futures this weekend, but she said the club would have to make some tough decisions with every aspect of their program as they plan for next season.