Madgen set to make Flames debut against Spirit
Australian Opals captain Tess Madgen is set to make her long-awaited Sydney Flames debut this Saturday, during Saturday’s round four fixture against Bendigo.
After missing the first three rounds due to knee soreness, the South Australian product has been cleared to take the court at Bendigo Stadium from 6.30pm AEDT.
“I am super excited [to make my debut],” Madgen said.
“I put in an enormous amount of work in the off-season to get my body right and unfortunately had a small setback in pre-season.
“[Admittedly] it was really hard [watching from the sidelines] – especially after missing last season.
“The team is so much fun to play with and be around, which made sitting out hard because I am happiest when I am playing and helping contribute to team success.
“Having great teammates did make it a little easier because coming to work every day is so much fun.
“I now feel really great at practice and can see all that hard work I’ve put in is paying off, so I can’t wait to help contribute come game day.”
The 33-year-old believes, despite her side going 2-2 through the opening part of WNBL24, is building something special in the Hoops Capital.
“It was always going to be a slow burn for us at the start of the season,” said Madgen, who will become Flame #220 on Saturday.
“We had a really disrupted pre-season with injuries and people coming in late for various reasons, so we are trying to gel and find our chemistry in the early part of the season.
“Picking up gritty wins in this early part is super important.
“We have a hectic December coming up, so we’re all definitely looking forward to seeing how things start to shape up.”
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Before that busy December period, which will include trips to Newcastle (for the Harvey Norman roadshow), Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne, the harbour city side will look to take down the Spirit for the second time in WNBL24 – after defeating them in Mildura in round two.
“Adding Kelsey Griffin back into their team gives them a completely different look,” the former Phoenix Mercury player said.
“We definitely can’t take them lightly as it is a completely different team we are playing against.
“Our pick and roll defence needs to be elite as well as our transition defence.
“We need to own the possession game and our offence will take care of itself.”
The round five fixture will be broadcast live on 9Now.