Batkovic ready to roll with the punches
JCU Townsville Fire captain Suzy Batkovic says her team must roll with the punches following Sunday’s opening round loss to Dandenong.
While the Fire entered the season opener as a hot favourite, the Rangers outplayed the reigning champions in the second half as they secured a 73-68 road victory in front of a vocal Townsville Stadium crowd.
Suzy Batkovic up to 20 & 14 & we have a one possession game! #FireUpTownsville pic.twitter.com/rEGBf9Y0oH
— Townsville Fire (@TownsvilleFire) October 14, 2018
Despite the upset, Batkovic, who is hoping to secure a sixth Chemist Warehouse WNBL title before she retires at the end of 2018/19, said there were lessons to be learned and her group would not shy away from them.
“We’re still talking about it a little bit – we’ve got video today to go through some stuff that we can correct – but we can’t dwell on it too long,” Batkovic said.
“Obviously we’ve got to turn around leave Thursday for an Adelaide-Perth road trip, so we’ve got to learn from it on the run as quick as possible and we fix what we’ve got to fix out there.”
The Fire return to the training floor tonight, with New Zealand international Stella Beck poised to resume full training after missing most of pre-season with a stress fracture in her foot.
Suzy Batkovic makes the bonus & we lead 42-35 late in Q2! #FireUpTownsville pic.twitter.com/dsbRz73Lry
— Townsville Fire (@TownsvilleFire) October 14, 2018
World Cup silver medallist Tess Madgen will also be integrated into the group after enjoying some well earned rest following her return from Spain.
With the Lightning defeating the Lynx at the weekend, Batkovic is well aware of the dangers of both sides ahead of the Doomsday Double.
“We will focus on Adelaide solely before worrying about Perth,” she said.
“They’re a good team and played well at the weekend.
“We’ve just got to be better than what we were – it’s not panic stations – and hopefully we can return home with a couple of wins.”
The Fire’s next home game is against the Sydney Uni Flames on Saturday, October 27 from 2pm.
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