HAVING made advances in every match, the Queensland Firebirds' Suncorp Team Girls Cup campaign has pleased Head Coach Bec Bulley.
The Firebirds backed up Saturday evening’s win over the Melbourne Vixens with a confident 49-40 triumph over Collingwood in Sunday’s opening match of finals day at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre.
It means Queensland posted two wins and two losses from their four matches at the pre-season tournament, with Bulley was impressed by how her team progressed across the weekend.
“That's really been a focus for us in our pre-season as well, just what gains can we make? It's not about huge changes, just marginal gains,” Bulley said.
“To go from our first game - losing by almost 20 goals - to losing by 10 goals, to winning by a couple of goals and then again today finishing it off with a really good win against Magpies was awesome.”
Sunday’s win featured another dominant display by Donnell Wallam with a game-high 39 goals from 43 attempts.
Wallam was well supported by Mia Stower, with the Firebirds’ goal attack scoring nine of 12 goals and a third-quarter Suncorp Super Shot and providing 14 goal assists.
Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion was also in top form, notching 25 feeds, 16 goal assists and two intercepts for a game-high total of 78.5 Nissan NetPoints.
Australian international defender Ruby Bakewell-Doran meanwhile dominated the back third of the court, with her partnership with Remi Kamo showing promising signs ahead of the Suncorp Super Netball season.
Bulley kept her changes to a minimum for Sunday’s match but utilised her full squad across the tournament with training partners Hulita Veve, Leesa Mi Mi, Isabelle Shearer and Olivia Dijkstra all getting valuable court-time.
New faces Emily Moore and Ash Unie also recorded solid minutes across the four games, pleasing Bulley heading into the opening round SSN fixture against Adelaide at Nissan Arena on March 19.
“We've got some great depth in our team,” Bulley said.
“I would have no hesitation with putting any of them on.
“When they got their opportunity they did really well.”
The Firebirds complete their pre-season against the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Suncorp Spirit Cup on Saturday, 4 March at Toowoomba’s Clive Berghofer Recreation Centre.
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