The Wollongong Roller Hawks resume NWBL action this weekend after a four-week break which included team members Brett Stibners, Michael Auprince and Luke Pople travelling to Japan with the Aussie Rollers for a warm-up tournament before the World Cup later this year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The disjointed domestic season has caused disruption to the Roller Hawks’ title defence with coach Brendan Dowler saying keeping momentum is hard with long gaps between rounds.
“We had players overseas with the national team so it was a challenge from both a quality and numbers perspective,” he said.
“Because of this we had a lighter training load for a couple of weeks and are now back in full swing leading into this weeks games and the finish to the season.”
“There’s pros and cons (to having players away on rep duties). They are away from the team for a period in the middle of the season so it’s disjointed, but competing at a higher level is good for their development so we need them to bring that back to lift and lead the team through these final rounds of the season.”
The Roller Hawks host the Adelaide Thunder this weekend and after a 72-41 win in the opening game of the season, the home side should account for the cellar dwellers again.
“We can’t be complacent and need to play to our standard and not develop bad habits that will hurt us against stronger teams like Brisbane in the following round.”
NATIONAL WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL LEAGUE
Round six
Saturday: ROLLER HAWKS v ADELAIDE THUNDER at Shellharbour City Stadium (5pm)
Sunday: ROLLER HAWKS v ADELAIDE THUNDER at the Snakepit (10am)