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West Coast Fever captain Courtney Bruce says her team is starting to click on court, after taking down the Sunshine Coast Lightning by 20 goals on Tuesday night.
The Fever sit well entrenched in fourth spot and are now putting pressure on the third placed Lightning ahead of their round 12 clash with the NSW Swifts on Saturday.
Speaking on Sports Drive on Wednesday, Bruce said the team’s confidence and belief was growing by the match.
“Everything’s starting to click, the hard work is paying off, to embed some really strong behaviours from us last night and get a 20-goal win was absolutely fantastic,” she said.
“I think we just match up against the Lightning really well, a lot of their game plan is really similar to ours and we know how to beat that.
“It’s just been grinding matches out, we might not get all the wins in 30 minutes, but over 60 minutes we can definitely get those wins.”
Stacey Marinkovich’s side has gone undefeated since round seven, recording four wins and a draw to firm for a finals spot.
Bruce said on court synergy had been the key to the improved fortunes of the side.
“I feel like everyone’s finding their groove now, I think everyone’s backing themselves and having that confidence to play to the best of their ability.
“I think it’s the first time we’ve seen the group have that real level of confidence about themselves and it’s showing out there on court.”
The Fever have played four games in 11 days as part of a gruelling condensed schedule, with all teams based in Queensland for the duration of the season.
“Every day is sort of blurred in to one at the moment,” Bruce said.
“The body is where it’s at. Everyone in the league is feeling a little bit tired and weary at the moment, but we’re just lucky we’ve got some good practices in place and having a rest day gives us a little bit of rest going in to Saturday’s game.”
The side hasn’t lost since Marinkovich was announced as coach of the national Diamonds team on August 29th, with Bruce hoping to extend her partnership with her Fever coach to the national level having already represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and last year’s 2019 World Cup.
“I’m really stoked for Stace. She’s been coaching me since I was about 17 now,” she said.
“We do have a really good relationship. Fingers crossed I get an opportunity to be coached by her in that Diamonds role. I’ll be over the moon and it would be quite a fairy tale story for both of us.”
The 26 year old star goal defence/keeper said the group was confident of continuing their good form against the second placed Swifts on Saturday.
“If you want to be the best you’ve got to be able to beat the best. The Swifts are certainly up there,” Bruce said.
“It’s going to be a good battle. I know everyone is really looking forward to it. The last time we matched up against them it was a reasonably good game.
“It’s just about once again drawing a line in the sand and wanting to take another step forward.”
The Fever-Swifts match will be played at Nissan Arena on Saturday, with the first centre pass scheduled for 11:00 PM WST.
IMAGE: West Coast Fever website.