Fire Coach Calls for more Intensity in the Nations Capital

The Fire’s fingers are crossed, Sug Sutton suits up in Canberra today, after she sat out the team’s opening game of its round 11 double header. The import is battling a back injury and Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm concedes she could miss the game despite travelling to the Nation’s capital.

“We’re hoping to have her right, we’ll just have to wait and see but yeah she was definitely not good enough to play Bendigo in terms of her physical condition.”

The Fire will look to bounce back from their shock 71-76 loss to Bendigo, at home on Thursday night, against a side shooting for six straight wins. Seebohm says that can only happen if they play with more intensity after being outhustled on their own court. The Spirit secured 49 rebounds compared to Townsville’s 29.

“You know you defend pretty well but then you’re constantly giving second chances, they get 22 offensive rebounds and then 28 points come off those offensive rebounds that’s the game right there. I mean we were still in a position to win right down to the wire and then gave up 4 offensive rebounds, so that’s disappointing.”

Monique Billings pulled down a team high 12 rebounds. She also top scored for the hosts with 23 points. Co-captain Mia Murray knows the American’s intent needs to be across the board.

“It comes down to a bit of resilience I think. It’s a bit of self-reflection. If you need to be pumped up it’s got to come from within.” Teams are going to push against us so we’ve got to find a way to fight back.”

Murray believes limited time to dwell on the result can be a positive if frustrations from the defeat fuels the Fire’s desire to a better performance.

“Everyone’s disappointed you know we’re not happy with ourselves so yeah fix up these effort plays and we should be ok.”

Today’s tip off is at 4pm Queensland time. You can catch the action on Kayo and follow score updates on the Fire’s social pages.