McCully masterclass just the tonic

The JCU Townsville Fire hope a Rachael McCully masterclass will lead them to victory on Saturday after sending an SOS to their 2014/15 championship winning captain.

Widely regarded as one of the competition’s greatest ever defenders, the Glove, who was twice crowned the WNBL defensive player of the year, spent the bulk of Thursday morning’s session on court with the Fire working on technique.

Since retiring following her decorated 324-game WNBL career, McCully has switched between serving as a full-time assistant and a coaching consultant for the Fire – in between the birth of her two children – as well as working in the club’s front office.

But with the reigning champions looking to make improvements at the defensive end of the floor, the Fire had no hesitation in asking the club legend to return to the floor to assist her former teammates.

“I think her coming in and just trying to teach some of the girls some of the tricks of her trade is really valuable for them for now and into the future,” Fire captain Suzy Batkovic said.

“It’s good to see Flanny on the court giving back to the younger players…she spent a session with us in pre-season and today was really a refresher.

“She was so good defensively when she played – you always knew what you were going to get from her on the defensive end – so it’s great that she is able to give back in this way.”

Having slumped to a 3-5 record, the Fire are desperate to reignite their title defence on Saturday when they face Bendigo for the first time in 2018/19.

The Spirit currently boast a 6-3 record and statistically are the best defensive team in the competition.

Fox Sports will broadcast the game from 2pm on Saturday before a return bout at Townsville Stadium next Thursday.

Click here to pre-purchase tickets to the Fire and the Spirit on November 29.