Two days out from Wagga Heat’s senior men’s trials, coach John Norman has issued his simple philosophy for on-court success.
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“Just stop the other team from scoring.”
Short, savvy, and to the point – exactly what you’d expect from a two-time Heat coach like Norman, who is determined to build a championship side and go deep into the division one Waratah League finals next year.
We need to be extremely good at defending if we’re to be serious contenders.
- John Norman
“It all goes back to my time at Heat when I was previously coaching the side and, thinking back on it, perhaps I didn’t pay defence enough respect,” Norman said.
“I think that it’s great to go out and score points and over the years I think Wagga’s had plenty of teams who did that comfortably, but it’s not enough to do just that.
“During your pool rounds and even in the first few weeks of finals, you can get a long way just off your offensive play and that’s fine, but time and time again, the teams that win competitions are the teams who play the best defence.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to score points but the best teams are good defensive teams that develop better counterattacking options and that’s what we want to be.
“We need to be extremely good at defending if we’re to be serious contenders.”
The Heat were by no means disgraced in their most recent campaign with starting regulars Zac Maloney, Josh McPherson and Scott Hare producing regular highlights.
However, Norman will have little indication of their likely line up until he sees what’s on offer during Sunday’s trial.
“It’s a bit hard to to elaborate on what our team could look like and it really depends on what comes through on Sunday,” he said.
“Sure, I’ve got an overall game plan that I’ll look to use based around solid defence and quick transition play, but that plan will shift to accomodate the members of our squad and that’s our unknown at the moment.
“I just don’t know what pieces of the puzzle we have yet.”
The trials will also give Norman a better indication of his side’s shortcomings and where a prospective import could fit into the mould.
“It’s going to be about having a balance of players and trials will show us what areas we need to improve on.”
“I’ve started looking at potential players to bring into the mix, but that selection will largely depend on trials and what comes from that.
It’s going to be about having a balance of players and trials will show us what areas we need to improve on.
- John Norman
“I think it’s important that, if we do bring in a player from outside of the club, they’re the style of person who complements the club, someone who is a good role model and is motivated to help promote the game and do coaching in the community.
“Sure, they’ll be a quality player who can help spread the offensive and defensive load, but they’ll also be a good person that shares our club’s values.”
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