Townsville to Battle Bendigo and Melbourne in Round 8

Townsville will take on Bendigo before facing Melbourne in what will be the team’s first double header of the WNBL season. Fire Coach Shannon Seebohm is planning plenty of rotation in round eight, given some of his players are still feeling the effects from catching covid, earlier this month. He has factored in fatigue, especially against the Boomers, tomorrow evening.

“These games this weekend are going to be challenging, especially the 24 hour turn around. But we need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to win.”

The Fire aren’t looking beyond tonight’s tussle though. They’re determined to bounce back from consecutive defeats, having started their campaign with successive wins. While the Spirit has lost three of its four games, the hosts have a much-changed roster from the one which struggled to compete last year. Seebohm’s expects a close contest.

“I think they’ve got a lot of grit and they’ve got some guards that can put up big numbers if we don’t do a good job defensively.”

The Fire will need to contain Anneli Maley. She’s averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds per game for the blue and gold.

Townsville will turn its attention to Melbourne immediately after battling Bendigo. The Fire needs to improve on recent performances, regardless of the opposition. Coach Shannon Seebohm wants to see more intensity.

“Right now, where we’re at, coming off two losses against Southside and Canberra, we need to get back to what makes us great and I think if we do that and we play hard consistently, and play as a team a little bit more, we’re going to be in good shape.”

You can catch the action on Kayo. Both games will tip off at 4pm, Queensland time.