FIREBIRDSFIREBI GOAL ATTACK GRETEL TIPPETT Puzzle pieces taking shape

LAST week’s effort in what was a tight win against Sydney was confirmation that I have at least started to find my feet at the Firebirds.

I felt at home on the court working in tandem with Romelda Aiken and was inspired by the hard yards put in by our captain Laura Geitz and Clare McMeniman down the other end of the court.

I couldn’t have been more flattered by the support shown to me by Laura and our coach Roselee Jencke this week and it’s such a nice feeling to know they have confidence in me.

I’ve got so much support around me and it’s made me step up to the challenge and rise to the standard of everyone else at this proud club.

The Round 5 win against the Swifts was a must for the Firebirds and I see it as a bit of a turning point for the side after we started off the season quite slow.

In fact, I feel like Queensland has really started to fire – we feel more confident on the court every time we’re out there together and it definitely helped that we were at home.

The crowd gave us that extra edge towards the end of the match when we were running out of legs.

This week has all been about preparing for tomorrow’s match with the Adelaide Thunderbirds at our home court in Brisbane.

Although I’ve never played for Queensland against Adelaide I definitely know about the Firebirds’ dismal record against the Thunderbirds which is something we are eager to turn around.

The Thunderbirds are a quality team – they beat the Vixens who were at the top of the ladder and who won the competition last year so we will have to be on our toes tomorrow afternoon.

The key to our game plan against the Thunderbirds is to get on the front foot early and not to let them back in the game.

I learnt a lot in my last game for the Firebirds - which was the second consecutive match I’ve spent the entire time on the court in the ANZ Championship.