In-form Fire set to flex muscles
Side has grown: Gaze
ONLY a week has gone by since the Fire lost to the Southside Flyers, but the change in their game has been meteoric.
It feels to Townsville guard Kate Gaze as though weeks have flown by, such has been their dramatic rise from a talented yet inconsistent unit to a genuine title contender.
Now they have come full circle and will take on the Flyers again tomorrow in a test of how far they’ve come.
Gaze has been a pillar of consistency for the Fire this season, stringing together regular minutes, applying off the ball pressure and being able to produce the odd shot that has relieved any scoreboard tension coming Townsville’s way.
The North Queensland outfit’s fortunes could have been very different after the first quarter against Bendigo last Saturday, particularly coming off a loss to Southside two days prior.
But not only did they rebound from that setback to claim the win, they carried the momentum on to their clashes with the Melbourne Boomers and the Spirit once again to make it three wins on the trot.
They now find themselves firmly entrenched in the top four – their only losses coming against last season’s grand finalists in the Flyers and Canberra Capitals – and Gaze said the shift in momentum had been bizarre to look back on.
However the truest indicator of how far they have come will be on the road in Cairns this weekend.
“It feels like it’s been a long time, we’ve had so many games that it does feel like it was a few weeks ago but it was just last week,” Gaze said.
“I think as a group we sort of lose track of what day and time it is, but we’re going with the flow, we’re rolling with it, we’re looking after our bodies and we’re backing up ready to play each game.
“I’m not sure (the losses were) needed, but I think we’ve grown a lot and we’ve learnt a lot from both of those losses.
“I think after that quarter (against Bendigo) we knew that wasn’t us, we knew we needed to be better if we wanted to be successful in this season, and it just came down to being prepared and making each other accountable.
“I think as a group we’ve really looked at those games and made adjustments where we’ve needed to and hopefully we’re improving, and when we do face them again this weekend I think we’ll be a different team to what we were in the first week of this season.”
The 30-year-old Gaze still cannot believe she is the second oldest in the Fire’s squad, however she is relishing the additional leadership responsibilities.
It made Tuesday night’s experience watching each player take the court one similar to that of a proud mum.
The likes of Sharna Thompson and Kelsey Mcdermott were rewarded with their first minutes of the season in the 99-51 win over Bendigo, while Courtney Woods played well above her average output – finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.