THE last couple of weeks we have had our core group settle in pretty well. With Klara coming in a bit late from the Lynx you have to add those pieces, and we've settled in now. We have been getting through our stuff and learning how each other plays. We are starting to mesh well together as a group now.

Beating teams who haven’t lost yet this year shows us the capabilities that we do have. I’m sure some people doubted where we would sit this year after the teams we've had the last few years. It certainly gives us a bit of confidence and shows us that if we compete together for a good 40 minutes and don’t have those lapses, we can be a strong side.

Our one loss to Rockingham was only by a point. We weren’t that far off. It definitely gives us a bit of confidence the way we've started the year to move forward.

The changes we've made this year also gives our core group the chance to play and take on extra responsibility to deliver on the court and be leaders for the younger girls. They know they will get their opportunity each week and as a seniors group we can coach them through it and help them as they need. We'll celebrate with them when they do well and help them when they need a bit of guidance. We've come a long way as a group and there's a different culture in the team, which is really important for this year.

Personally it's been really good too to have some extra responsibility. It's my third year back now and after being away, but this year I've enjoyed the opportunity to take on a bit more of a leadership role. I've been helping those younger girls who we haven’t been in the SBL squad before and it has been rewarding and good to see them develop over the last few months and have the opportunity to play now.

The team won the Championship the year before I came back and the goal every year is to try and get back there. The top couple of teams in the SBL each year are always very dominant with the women, but this year is the first one since I've been back where the competition seems more even and there could definitely be some surprises come Grand Final time. That's the approach we've taken too, you never know what can happen so we are giving it our all to try and put ourselves in the best position come the end of the year.

We've also had a change in coach from Vlad to Craig this year and I think there's a lot of other changes at the club too. Wanneroo has had different management in as well and we've had different players come in, we've got new assistants and some young girls who haven’t necessarily been in the group before. There's been a lot of changes besides the coaching and it's a mixture of all those things that have come together, and it's a testament to Craig that he's been able to pull all those pieces together without a lot of disruption. Everyone has been open about what has been happening with so that has created a really good club culture that we can now build on each year.

We have a big game on Friday, but really I'm looking forward to the weekend. It's good having a Friday game and then the weekend to have some down time. We did have one year where we played on a Monday on Easter and it wasn’t our best game. It will be nice to have a bit of downtime before we will be back on court Tuesday.

Article by Ellyce Ironmonger
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography