The Queensland Firebirds will have an extra hunger when they take to the court at this week’s Suncorp Team Girls Cup (TGC) and are looking forward to SSN-quality pre-season matches.
Due to COVID and its flow on effect, the Firebirds have had an interrupted schedule during February, but have been fortunate to have two solid hit outs against the Queensland Suns men’s team.
Firebirds head coach Megan Anderson says the team is biting at the bit to get on the court and test themselves against their Suncorp Super Netball rivals in Melbourne this weekend.
“We try to ensure the players are able to focus on playing by keeping the uncontrollables out of the picture for them,” Anderson explained.
“Hence why they’re so keen to get down to TGC, they feel they’ve been missing out seeing all the other teams have practice matches over the past two weekends.
“Everyone loves to compete, so it’s been hard to sit and watch but it just makes this weekend more exciting.”
Suncorp Team Girls Cup might be viewed as a pre-season tournament, though the Queensland Firebirds are determined to make their trip to Melbourne worth it.
The Firebirds are travelling with an extended squad of 14, including exciting Western Australian talent Donnell Wallam who has been training with the club.
Fans will also see for the first time in purple English international Eboni Usoro-Brown alongside training partners Ash Ervin and Charlie Bell.
“We always go into games wanting to win, but this weekend the result is not the be all and end all,” Anderson said.
“We want players who will compete on court in all situations, we want to see players trying to execute what we’ve been working on and we want to continue to build those connections between the new players on court.
“We have to be mindful of player loads while they’re returning to court post-COVID so we will be utilising all 14 of our players across the weekend and it’ll be great to be able to see them all on court.”
“We just need to trust the process and really look after the health of the players as number one priority and make sure they’re 100 per cent fit for round one.”
Suncorp Team Girls Cup will be played across three days from Friday 25 February to Sunday 27 February at Melbourne’s Parkville Stadium.
The Firebirds take on the Melbourne Vixens at 6pm Friday night, before taking on Sunshine Coast Lightning and NSW Swifts on Saturday. With playoffs scheduled for Sunday.
All matches will be live on Fox Sports through Foxtel and Kayo Freebies.
