Lightning assistant coach Kylee Byrne says the team, which has used the same starting seven for almost every game this season, is considering throwing the bibs up in a bid to shake the fifth-placed Lightning out of the funk that has seen them win just three of their first eight games, along with a draw against the Giants last weekend.
Against the Giants the Lightning scored the first three goals of the match, only to find themselves eight goals down early in the second quarter after going missing for a period, in what has been a recurring issue for them this season.
They trailed 19-9 at quarter-time against the NSW Swifts in Round 7 and never recovered, and in Round 4 they almost gave up a winning lead against the Magpies, hanging on by two.
And this week they’ll face the demons of a three-goal loss in Round 2 against Queensland rivals the Firebirds, in which they found themselves down 9-20 at quarter-time and spent the next three quarters trying to fight their way back.
Byrne says the coaching staff are now considering all options, with the team’s traditional starting seven proving to be inconsistent.
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Firebirds
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MATCH-UP
The Numbers
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Lightning
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32
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Mins. in Possession
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28
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17
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Gain
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17
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12
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Intercepts
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10
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14
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Deflections
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9
|
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83
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Goal Shooting %
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96
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“We’ve reopened it and all 10 (players) are in the mix,” Byrne says.
“The three that haven’t had enough court time bring us something totally different and that’s actually what we’re exploring at the moment, that although we’ve got names in this team, they might be able to do some time on the sideline, have a look and then reenter the game as well.”
Against the Giants, centre Laura Scherian was benched late in the first quarter, with wing defence Madeline McAuliffe shifted into the middle and lockdown player Jacqui Russell brought on into wing defence.
Byrne says that with the Giants’ midcourt running rampant in the first half they were forced to make a change.
“We just wanted to change defensively. We wanted to play a real tight man on man game and that’s what Jacqui brings to this team. She can be really annoying to play against as well and where you had such a dominant wing attack in Kim Green, she was able to really get in her face and make her do two or three movements rather than just that one attacking movement to the ball.”
With the speedy Caitlin Nevins and Mahalia Cassidy awaiting this weekend, further change-ups are something the Lightning will be toying with.
But Byrne says that the onus is on their own players to maintain an acceptable level of consistency.
“It’s a five-minute period that we’re addressing at the moment and whether that’s the first or the second quarter, we just can’t let it happen anymore,” she says.
“So we had a lot of talk around that since the weekend … the Swifts it happened and then obviously the Giants, and also in the Firebirds in the first round. We know it’s happened three times but it’s just stopping those repeated errors so a two-goal lead doesn’t blow out to an eight-goal lead.”
Despite the dangers lurking in every Firebirds position, Byrne says the Lightning have put their time this week into improving their own performance.
“We’ve actually focused on us a lot (in training) and what we do well. What we did today was a lot of possession, so when we’ve got ball in hand it could be 10 passes, it could be five passes, but we’ve got to make sure we deliver on it and convert.”
“The Firebirds we only lost by a couple of goals but we only had one big quarter blowout so it’s a pretty evenly matched game this weekend.”
“The points difference between us and number one at the moment is only nine points, and considering the amount of points on grab at the moment in each game means it’s not panic stations at all and we’ve got a plan that we’ll just gradually get up there as well. So we know we’ve got to chip away.”
The Sunshine Coast Lightning play the Queensland Firebirds on Sunday at 1pm at USC Stadium. Watch it LIVE on Channel 9, or get your tickets here.
