Cocks keen to look to next year
TOWNSVILLE Fire captain Micaela Cocks has reflected on what’s been a tough first year as the leader at the WNBL franchise.
The Fire finished with the WNBL wooden spoon after falling to the Bendigo Spirit on Saturday night 89-69.
The loss meant Townsville finished the season with just five wins from 21 games.
“Bendigo played a good game of basketball tonight and they outplayed us at the end of the day,” Cocks said after the loss.
“We had a couple of good offensive runs where we made some shots but then they’d come down and knock a couple of threes and that just never let us get going.
“We weren’t able to get that scoreboard pressure on them because they just kept hitting shots as well.”
Cocks said her team was guilty of not executing its game plan and allowed the Spirit to play to their strengths.
The guard, who took over the captaincy from retired legend Suzy Batkovic, said it had been a tough introduction to life as a skipper but it wouldn’t deter her.
The Fire copped a brutal blow before a whistle had been blown this season, losing young gun Zitina Aokuso to an ACL injury before star player Abby Bishop departed the club last month.
“It’s sport, so as an athlete you’re used to dealing with adversity,” Cocks said.
“We lost Zitina early and little things like that happened throughout the season.
“We lost a lot of games and no one wants to lose when you’re playing sport but it happens. It’s disappointing but you kind of move on and get ready for next season.”