I was pleased with our win, last week against the Thunderbirds – we had a solid start and then held strong in the second half. This week, I’d like to see us bring together that strong start and good finish from Rd 1. Thank you for the wonderful well wishes I received for Mother’s Day. I had a sleep in and a win too – both great presents😉.
Our ten-player rotation is certainly having an impact and we’ll continue using the depth in our Firebirds side when we take on the notoriously unpredictable GIANTS in Sydney on Sunday. The GIANTS are certainly the in-form team of 2021 thus far, they had big wins in the pre-season and have followed that up with 2 solid wins in Rounds 1 and 2.
This week’s game will be a good measure for our Firebirds especially against Harten who is a smart player and can play against any defensive style. In the circle, the GIANTS attack end will be hard to stop and it’s going to be tough for our defence end to close down all 3 Super Shot shooters. Some solid full court defence will also be on the agenda as we’ll be looking to see if we can slow the ball down coming into their circle to help our circle defenders pick up some intercepts.
In the centre court, the match up to watch will be Rav and Jamie-Lee Price. Price is a key link in the GIANTS midcourt and we’ll be looking to close down any free space for her.
Variety will be our key strength in the shooting circle. Space is at a premium for Romelda, Tippah or Gretel when Sam Poolman and Kristiana Manu’a are defending so, we’ll be looking to get some good ball movement and turn the defender’s heads so they can’t be out on the hunt for the ball.
I’m looking forward to our first game away for the season. We’ll play this week (Rd 3) and next week’s games on the road. We’re heading to Tasmania for our round 4 game against the Magpies on 22 May but don’t forget you can watch us on the Netball Live App/Telstra TV (Rd 3) this week and on Channel 9 next week (Rd 4). And, of course, if you’re in Sydney or Tassie we’d love to see our purple family out in force. Otherwise, we’ll see you at our next home game on Saturday, 29 May (3pm).
Game on!
