By JARROD POTTER
WNBL – ROUND 7 REVIEW
SEARCHING for a clean bill of health is taking a toll on the young Dandenong Rangers after Sunday’s gut-wrenching loss to Bendigo.
Dandenong will not have enjoyed the trip back from Bendigo, as the Rangers were hurt by fouls and injuries that have dogged their last month.
Aimie Clydesdale is on the verge of returning to the line-up from a knee injury while off-the-bench weapon Jacinta Kennedy also missed the clash.
With two major forces out of the line-up, Dandenong had to rely on its starters and couldn’t muster enough offensively to shut down Bendigo powerhouses Gabe Richards, Kelly Wilson and Kelsey Griffin, who became a naturalised Australian citizen in a ceremony following the match.
The low-scoring, physical encounter favoured the Spirit, which pushed out the margin early and grimly held on.
Dandenong couldn’t reel in the hosts, but despite trailing all afternoon, the Rangers continued to push the Spirit all the way to the end.
Nothing much clicked on offence for the Rangers – the long-range game went missing – with only Annalise Pickrel (14 points), Steph Cumming (13 points) and Sara Blicavs (12 points) reaching double figures.
While 49 on the board isn’t a great look, restricting a free-flowing, powerful opponent to 63 is at least something of note to take from Dandenong’s performance.
“When everyone switches off like they did yesterday, it exploits our weaknesses that we need to work on,” Rangers coach Larissa Anderson said.
“They’re a great group and yesterday was one of those days that nothing went their way – few early calls that rattled everyone and got them into foul trouble.
“They go up together and go down together, but they need to figure out when we go down who will pull the rest of the group up with them.
“They’re a tight and fabulous group and it’s been tough few weeks together and we’ve got to rebuild.”
Clydesdale’s imminent return strengthens the line-up just in time for another tough clash next week against Sydney Uni.
“It was horrible but I think now that I’ve had 24 hours to look over it – we were bitterly disappointed yesterday and we’re still four and four,” Anderson said.
“It’s not bad and not great – but the four games that we’ve lost we’ve had two key players missing every one of those.
“We’ve really been missing Aimie (Clydesdale) – Amelia (Todhunter) has been amazing but her and Aimie are great together and we miss what she brings to the team and thankfully she’s almost back.”
The loss pushes Dandenong out of the top four, but the club has played the fewest matches in the league with a couple in hand on many above them heading into the Christmas break.
The Rangers will look to put back-to-back losses behind them, but their task doesn’t get any easier when they face the ladder-leading Sydney Uni on Saturday night at 6.30pm.
Seeking the positives in the high-calibre clash, Anderson saw opportunity aplenty in facing the Flames in what could be the jumpstart the side needs.
“We’ll focus on what’s working for us – our team defence, individual defence have been great – we’re working on things up both ends, but we’ll stick to what works for us,” Anderson said.
“We’re improving and we’re a bit over missing players but we have enough talent there to work on this.
“It’s pretty hard in one way – we’re focusing on the top side, but what better way to turn it around than against them.”
