CAMBAGE CAN BE
Flyers find missing piece to title puzzle
WITH no basketball to play throughout a pandemic lockdown, Southside Flyers leader Jenna O’hea has had to do plenty of thinking.
Last WNBL campaign’s grand final series defeat still burns, and the coronavirus has ensured her outfit has been unable to make amends for their stumble at the last hurdle. Until now.
“It’s been a long off season. We haven’t played games so we’ve been thinking about it lot,” O’hea said.
“We’ve been working on some things we didn’t think we were great at last year, rebounding in particular, so that’s been a really big focus in a really short pre-season.
“It’s a constant reminder and we’re looking forward to playing the Caps again.”
But the Flyers will have to wait until they take on Canberra again. First up will be a clash with the a
Bendigo Spirit. Much of the same side will take the floor in North Queensland as they did last season, but the addition of Opals star Liz Cambage could be the piece that unlocks a championship.
Not that Southside are lacking in national representatives – O’hea, the returning Sara Blicavs and Leilani Mitchell all have plenty of Australian caps.
In one of the few changes to their side, point guard Stephanie Reid will instead take her place in Townsville Fire colours.
The continuity of the squad will be crucial for a side that has been deprived of a proper pre-season as the health crisis in Victoria continues.
It was not until Southside completed their quarantine in Brisbane that they could at last come together as a team.
While it has not taken long for the Flyers to find their groove as a unit, O’hea said there was a key disadvantage they needed to fast overcome.
That is where Cambage comes to the fore – her experience, skill and ability to attract several defenders could be the element that covers a major flaw in their preparation.
“We were in really strict lockdowns for what felt like months on end, and when we did finally get work exemption it was just myself and a coach – dribbling, ball handling, and we couldn’t share balls,” O’hea said.
“We played some practice games – two against the Spirit and one against the Boomers – so that was really helpful in our preparation, but I do feel like we’re a little bit behind compared to some of the other teams.
“(But) in the practice games we’ve played she (Cambage) drew so much attention. She’s one of the best players in the world so there’s always two players on her – sometimes three, sometimes four. It opens up the rest of us which is really great. We have a lot of great shooters ... so I think the floor will be really opened up.”