Wagga Blaze will end a month-long hiatus from the court when they welcome Coffs Harbour for their first home game of the state league season on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Blaze have had to wait four weeks for their round two clash as part of the unique nature of this year’s Waratah League draw.
It will be a home double header at Bolton Park Stadium on Saturday as the Blaze host the Suns at 5pm, before the Heat take on Dubbo Rams at 7pm.
The Blaze lost their opening game 62-52 to Shoalhaven but have had plenty of time to prepare for Coffs Harbour.
“It’s been four weeks between drinks,” coach Peter O’Leary said.
“We’ve been training the best we can and we’ve had a trial game but it’s not anything like having a real game.
“We’ve just got to make the best with what we’ve got.”
Making the Blaze’s task more difficult is the fact young gun Abbey Morton will be missing with state representative duties in Geelong.
“It’s going to be a little bit of an issue because she scored 11 or 12 points for us in the first game,” O’Leary said.
“It gives someone else a chance to step up and fill her shoes.
“We’ve got a couple of development players there that if we can give an opportunity we will.
“We won’t be short.”
Coffs Harbour went down in last year’s grand final, so the Blaze expect them to be tough opposition.
“They have one very tall girl, and good outside shooters as well,” he said.
Meantime, Wagga Heat will be out to bounce back from last week’s horrific loss when they take on Dubbo.
The Heat suffered their biggest loss of the year last week on the road, going down 85-54 to Sutherland. It was a loss that prompted coach Colin Reed to call for an improved attitude from his team.
Heat captain Zac Maloney is keen to move on.
“This week, I don’t know about the other boys, but personally it seems to have been a really long week,” Maloney said.
“You don’t want to sit around and dwell on a loss...so we’re keen to bounce back and put it behind us.”
Maloney said a few teams meetings have been held with an agreement to lift intensity at training.
“Our main focus is to lift our intensity at training,” he said.
“We want to work hard and have higher intensity at training so that games are easier.”
Maloney expects the Rams to come out firing as they look to lift themselves from the bottom of the ladder.
He said the Rams have a couple of dangerous players, none more so than William Howell, who leads the competition’s point scoring.