ROLLER REVENGE
FINALS RETURN TO COAST COURTS
NOT only will a quarter-final win mean Gold Coast take one step closer towards their first QBL championship since 1988 but it will also see the Rollers seek revenge on one of only three teams that have beaten them this year.
Tonight the Rollers will host two home finals for the first time in almost 10 years but while a win will see them progress, captain Christian Salecich said the mission was two-pronged after USC Rip City beat the Rollers by four points at home in Round 11.
“We want to get one back on Rip City,” he said.
“It’s a double incentive for us. If we win, we make the semis but we also get to fix our mistakes from the last time we played them.
“They had a different look than what we were used to and a few different personal.
“We learnt that we had to be focused in every situation because we weren’t 100 per cent focused going into the game but from that point on we’ve rectified that.”
Salecich, 28, who declared tonight’s do-or-die final the biggest QBL match he’d been involved in, said that the Rollers 2019 run exceeded his own expectations.
“It’s been a really good feeling to see it come together and proof to the fact we’ve done the right things,” he said. “It’s always difficult to get a gauge on where you’re going to finish but I thought we had a chance to be good and potentially really good.
“The job isn’t over though because we want to win the last game of year so we have four wins to go.”
The Rollers will be boosted by the return of Anthony Petrie who has missed eight games with a knee injury.
While the Rollers men prepare to make amends, the Lady Rollers believe they are playing their best basketball at the right time of the year.
Tonight they take on the Logan Thunder who they have beaten but also been beaten by this year, though co-captain Susannah Walmsley believes her side have only just hit their peak.
“I think we are really hitting our form right now,” she said. “We had some really tough games at the start of the season and the whole way through it’s been tough but we’ve really built with each game and learnt a lot of things throughout the season.”
The women play at 6pm at Carrara Indoor Stadium followed by the men at 8pm.
IT’S BEEN A REALLY GOOD FEELING TO SEE IT COME TOGETHER AND PROOF TO THE FACT WE’VE DONE THE RIGHT THINGS CHRISTIAN SALECICH