Home-town intimidation tactics won't faze the Wollongong Hawks in tomorrow night's championship decider against the Perth Wildcats at Challenge Stadium.
Wollongong's courageous 75-63 home win in game two on Tuesday night evened the best-of-three grand final series at 1-1.
The Hawks believe they gained valuable experience and mental toughness in their game-one loss in Perth last week and are relishing the opportunity to steal the title on their opponents' home court.
As much as they would love to play game three in Wollongong, the Hawks hold no fears about returning to Wildcats country.
Also working in Wollongong's favour is the fact both teams have to travel - the Wildcats flew back to Western Australia four hours before the Hawks departed last night.
Cats fans will pack the 4500-seat stadium, but the Hawks reckon the crowd won't make a difference.
"Game one was a great experience for us," forward Cam Tragardh said.
"We handled it a lot better than the two times we played there in the season - we crapped our pants in one of the games over there.
"I'm very excited about the opportunity in front of us. We're in a good position and we're going to roll the dice and have a real crack.
"I didn't even notice the crowd in game one and we'll block them out and make sure they're not a major factor on Friday.
"With our nine-win season a couple of years ago, we did it tough for a bit, so you want to enjoy the good times when they come.
"I'll be loving it on Friday, every second of it. We all will."
Tragardh was the standout player in game two, pouring in 28 points to make up for a poor showing in the series opener.
"It was just a mindset to be physical at both ends," the 26-year-old said.
"Watching the tape of game one and knowing the way I played, it was embarrassing. It was a long flight back from Perth.
"Even my Dad called and was asking me what was wrong and why I let them push me around.
"It was about being more aggressive because they're a big, strong team and they're not going to just give it to you.
"I just wanted to take strong position at both ends and I'll be taking the same mindset into game three."
The Hawks were down by a point at half-time of game two but remained patient and poised to wear down the Cats in the second half.
Tragardh said his team would draw on those same fighting qualities if they fell behind in the decider.
"We set the platform with our defence and we know we're a better shooting team than what we showed in the first half.
"It wasn't anything special they were doing, we just weren't knocking down shots," he said.
"We just wanted to stay calm and execute our stuff, and we knew the shots would come.
"If it takes all 40 minutes to get it done on Friday, that's what we have to do. We know we're capable of finishing strongly down the stretch if the game is tight."
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter