Having steadily improved across the first six rounds and then almost toppling the NSW Swifts in Round 6, the Thunderbirds looked poised to carry that momentum towards their first win of the season.
But after sitting through a weekend off, time will tell whether the optimism from those close results against the Swifts and Sunshine Coast Lightning has washed away, or gathered even more steam.
Against a seasoned Queensland Firebirds line-up on Sunday, we’ll pretty quickly know exactly what effect the break has had on an Adelaide line-up that’s still learning to gel.
Thunderbirds defender Fiona Fowler insists the lessons from those last two performances are still ringing loudly in their ears, a fortnight on.
“Starting the season how we did, it was good to finish the first half of the season with those two strong games against Sunshine Coast Lightning and the Swifts,” Fowler says.
“They were two games that probably, on reflection, we had our chances, and that just adds to our confidence and now it’s just about learning and trusting and having that confidence to be able to push out those games.”
Learning to play together as an almost entirely new group against teams that have built connections over multiple seasons is one thing, but Fowler says that the art of actually winning games is a skill the squad is having to re-learn.
“It’s a bit of a skill to win games, and it probably sounds a little bit funny to say that.”
“To be in those moments and to be in those pressure situations and to be able to actually trust that we can put the foot down and trust each other in those moments.”
“If you’ve won together before you have that belief that you can get over the line no matter the score, no matter what. I’m not saying we don’t have the belief out there, because 100 per cent we do, but it’s just something maybe subconsciously, if you’ve run down a team before and you can get over the line then it’s so much easier to do it again.”
Fowler says that with the competition taking another leap forward in skill and intensity this season, other teams have already had a 12-month dress rehearsal in Season 1, while the new-look Thunderbirds are only just coming into their own now, which will make them a dangerous proposition for opposition teams in the back half of the season.
“All the other teams have pretty much stayed the same and they’ve been in those pressure situations before and have built upon that. You try and simulate those things during preseason, and we had a long preseason to work together, but nothing really emulates the league and how much the league has increased in intensity since last season,” she says.
“We’ve been trying to catch up these first few rounds and start to build those connections with each other in a pressure environment. It’s starting to come together.”
Against a rampant Romelda Aiken and Gretel Tippett, Fowler and her defensive teammates will have their hands full on Saturday at Priceline Stadium.
But Fowler says that the Firebirds’ own performance in knocking off league leaders the West Coast Fever was inspiration for the Thunderbirds ahead of Round 7.
“Firebirds obviously had a fantastic win over Fever, who were kind of put on that pedestal at the start of the season, but there’s no doubt we think we can go into this game and maybe shake things up a little.”
“We don’t want to finish the end of the season winless. It was fantastic to get points on the board last round, but we want wins on the board and we want to really shake the competition up. We believe that every round we go into is a winnable round, just like anyone else in the competition.”
The Thunderbirds take on the Firebirds on Sunday (1pm AEST) at Priceline Stadium. Get your tickets here.
Broadcast Details: Telstra TV or Channel 9 (Adelaide only)
