The Launceston Tornadoes will be hoping their renowned home crowd support can help claim their first win of the SEABL season when they take on the Frankston Lady Blues at Elphin Stadium on Friday night.
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The Torns will be aiming to rebound from an opening round defeat to the Hobart Chargers but coach Ben Rush knows that Frankston will provide another strong test for his young team.
“They will be a tough game as there are not many easybeats in the SEABL and there are a lot of challenging teams out there,” Rush said.
“The Tornadoes always step on court playing to win and believing we can win and this week is no different.
“The playing group and staff are motivated and excited for our first home game and our first Friday night game in several years and we are ready to take down Frankston and kickstart our season.
“We are looking forward to getting back to Elphin and playing in front of the most vocal supporters in the league and I’m hoping to see plenty or red and white in the crowd for my first home game as coach.”
The Lady Blues boast a formidable line-up and will be looking for their first win after suffering an opening round nine-point defeat to Kilsyth.
“They’ve got two good bigs, an American who has a lot of size and they have picked up Carly Mijovic from the Perth Lynx who is a good young Australian player with good size and skill level,” Rush said.
“We need our defensive intensity to be more consistent this week – staying aware of Mijovic and her Lynx team mate Tenaya Phillips, both talented scorers who can turn a game in their favour quickly, will be a key.
“At the offensive end, another week of practice together will help the understanding of our systems, concepts and style of play.”
Rush said the club is negotiating for an overseas player to help bolster their height and was hopeful of an announcement next week.
“We’re getting really close to a signed contract and getting a visa underway as soon as a contract comes through. We’re just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s with a player we think will come in and be really helpful.”
Rush said there were positives to take out of the Chargers loss with a strong debut by Flames import Lauren Nicholson, Jayde Brazendale, Jessica Johnston and Paige French playing their first SEABL minutes and Olivia Chugg and sister Nina Howard playing together for the first time in two years after serious injuries.
“I thought we struggled at times to capitalise on good offensive opportunities early in the game and the lack of scoreboard movement built pressure on our group,” he said.
“For sure, not having Mikaela [Ruef] hurts, there’s no doubt about that – it wasn’t so much we were missing size, it was just that we didn’t quite execute our game plan as we’d like.
“We’re never satisfied with that but it’s understandable because we are very new to each other and we’re building how we play and learning each other and our system and there will be challenges until we have replacement for Mikaela.
“But you play to other strengths and I still think we have a group of people that can go out there and beat Frankston.”