Fusion ready to deliver at home

Thursday, August 16, 2012

QUEENSLAND Fusion has maintained their spot in second place on the Australian Netball League Ladder and are looking forward to playing in front of a strong home crowd in Round Three.

This weekend, the team will play their only home round of the competition at Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday August 18 and Sunday, August 19.

Captain Jacqui Russell said she hoped there was a large crowd to cheer Queensland onto victory.

"In Round Three we will face some tough competition against Canberra Darters and New South Wales Waratahs, but when you have a home crowd cheering you on, it makes it all the much better," she said.

Coming off from one win and one loss in Round Two, Russell said the team was looking to secure two strong wins over the weekend.

"Unfortunately last weekend we got off to a bit of a slow start in our game against Western Sting and we couldn’t pull back the score line," she said.

"We did have a couple of good quarters, particularly the third, but we were too inconsistent throughout the game.

"Western Sting slowed us down in attack and in defence, we didn’t turn the ball over enough, in saying that the 18-goal deficit wasn’t reflective of the game, it was tough and we gritted out teeth and fought the whole way."

That mistake is something Russell said the team won’t make again.

"Getting a good start is certainly something we will be focussing on in our games in Brisbane this weekend," she said.

The first game of the Round will be played at 4pm on Saturday, August 18 when AIS takes on NSW Waratahs.

Queenslander Laura Clemesha will take the court for the AIS, along with a range of other up and coming players.

While the Waratahs are the top team for New South Wales with a number of ANZ Championship players including Kimberly Borger and April Letton from NSW Swifts and Mission Queensland Firebirds replacement player Nicola Gray.

Following the opening match, Queensland Fusion will play Canberra Darters at 6pm.

The next day Canberra Darters and AIS will play at 2pm, while the game of the round to watch will be at 4pm when Queensland Fusion and NSW Waratahs go head to head.

Both teams have a range of talent with Fusion have some current and past Mission Queensland Firebirds in their team including Ameliaranne Wells, Jacqui Russell, Laura Scherian and Sophie Croft.

For more information about the 2012 Australian Netball League visit www.netball.asn.au