By ROY WARD
DANDENONG Rangers will step back and decide if they will keep their side together for another tilt at the WNBL title next season.
The Rangers were surprisingly eliminated in the preliminary final on Sunday afternoon with the league’s team of destiny, Townsville Fire, fearlessly taking down the Rangers 78-64 at Dandenong Stadium.
The Fire progress to the WNBL grand final against Bendigo Spirit at Bendigo Stadium this Sunday, while the Rangers will look on with envy after shooting just 36 per cent from the field against the Fire’s relentless defence.
Only Steph Cumming (11 points) and Jenna O’Hea (10 points, nine rebounds) got to double figures for the Rangers while Fire guard Micaela Cocks (20 points, 11 in the last quarter), Kayla Standish (19 points) and Jess Foley (15 points) all made crucial shots when their team needed them.
Rangers coach Mark Wright said he would have to speak with his players and begin looking at what the team will look like for the 2013-2014 season.
“It’s a matter of talking to the players and seeing what they want to do,” Wright said. “We will see who wants to stay and who wants to move on. It’s very difficult to replicate what we did last year.
“We tried to do that but we have some different personal, there might be a lesson for the coach about keeping the chemistry the same but I’m not sure about that. We all just have to have a step back, see where we want to go and what the budget looks like, then try to bring a similar group back.”
While it is too soon to know what star players Kath Macleod, Jenna O’Hea, Steph Cumming and imports Krista Phillips and Monica Wright plan to do, all will attract serious attention from European clubs and leading WNBL sides.
Mark Wright said his side was “gutted and devastated” after the loss. But he said the signs were there that the Rangers were not in top form heading into the finals.
“We haven’t been able to do that in the past three games,” he said. “We lost to Adelaide by a few points and couldn’t hit shots, we lost to Bendigo by a couple of points and couldn’t make shots, now we lost today in the same way – we have formed a habit of not being able to make big shots.
“Given what has happened in the past three weeks, we have to stand back and say we are not the team that deserves to be in the grand final.
“Clearly Townsville are, they play with a finals mentality, what more can they do than beat Adelaide at Adelaide and us at home, hopefully it will be a great final.”
The WNBL grand final will be at Bendigo Stadium this Sunday at 3.45pm with ABC1 showing the game live.
