Grand final week! No better time to be a player than the lead up to the grand final! What a weekend it will be for the Seahawks, with both men and women in the final game of the season with a chance to hoist the championship trophy together!
It’s been a huge 12 months for our senior teams, coming off a challenging COVID affected season in 2020, where both squads stood tall against opposition that should have been competing in the NBL1 season. Through those challenges, the squads have improved across the board – on and off the floor and the results this season have shown.
The SmartSkill Seahawks Women side will be aiming for perfection this season, currently be undefeated for the season and will be looking to put the final stamp on the season with a win over cross town rivals, Gold Coast this Saturday afternoon at the Nest.
In their previous two match ups this season, the SmartSkill Seahawks women have been victors on both occasions, with convincing score lines of 70-43 and a tougher 62-48 final score in their most recent match up.
Charli Reece will make her return to the line-up this weekend, after recovering from a back injury that has sidelined her for over a month and point god Krystle McKenzie will be better for the return run in last weekend’s semi-final over Southern Districts Spartans.
Although his opposition is much younger and inexperienced, head coach for the SmartSkill Seahawks Women Bradley Kann is preparing his troops for war.
“They played us incredibly tough last time we were at home, and I expect no different heading into the grand final this Saturday” said Kann.
“Their energy was incredibly high which we really didn’t handle well, so we know that if we can handle their pressure it puts us in a good position for the game”
“They are a really talented squad, but I feel if we can handle their 2-3 key players on the defensive end and force them to defend us down the other end, we can really build pressure early”
“We aren’t going to be getting ahead of ourselves on Saturday afternoon – we will be ready to go”
The Seahawks Men will have to be road warriors if they are to be crowned the QSL Men’s champions this season, heading up the road to take on minor premiers Brisbane Capitals on Saturday night.
The Seahawks have swept their opponents 2-0 in the regular season, with both contests being decided by single digits, so expect this game to be an absolute doozy.
With a mix of youth enthusiasm and veteran experience, the Seahawks Men will be confident heading into the season decider.
David Gurney has been a bucket all season, sitting 3rd on the average points ladder with 21ppg and the captain of the ship Rhys Martin controlling the side beautifully, but the continual growth of their younger teammates has been the shining light for Coach Mullan’s men.
Contributions throughout the season from Mackenzie Hall, Jesse Lomax, Amarco Doyle and crowd favorite Riley Coombes have made the Seahawks an incredibly tough team to match up against when on any given night, a multitude of players can cause the opposition grief.
Head Coach for the Seahawks Jordan Mullan knows his team can get it done this Saturday night but will take a mammoth effort against the home side.
“We snuck a win out against them first game of the season and had a huge come from behind win against the Caps as well, so we are confident heading into Saturday”
“In saying that, the Capitals side has been our toughest opposition all year so we will need to stay in every position in order for us to walk away with a victory”
“Their guard play is deep, and they continually put pressure on the keyway, so our guards need to be able to defend 1 on 1 but need to be reliant on our bigs to protect paint”
“If we execute what our scout is, we have a strong belief that we will be heading home with the trophy”
SmartSkill Seahawks vs Gold Coast Rollers Women’s QSL 1 Grand Final will tip off at 4:30pm at Runaway Bay Indoor Sports Centre.
To purchase your tickets, head to: https://www.seahawksbasketball.com.au/qsl-tickets
Seahawks Men vs Brisbane Capitals QSL 1 Grand Final will tip off at 7pm at Auchenflower in Brisbane.
If you are attending the Women’s Grand Final, we will be live streaming the Men’s QSL 1 Grand Final from 7pm, with the bar and canteen both operating all the way through.
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