After suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Euroa last weekend, Seymour knows it must bounce back quickly as it welcomes premiership fancy Mooroopna to Kings Park for a blockbuster GVL A-grade netball clash.
Overawed by the Magpies’ frantic pressure last week, Seymour’s customary attacking flair went missing at Memorial Oval, scoring a season-low 38 on its way to a five-goal defeat.
Now facing a Mooroopna side fresh off a heartbreaking defeat to fellow heavyweight Shepparton United last week, Lions coach Ellie O’Sullivan said her team was excited for the challenge.
“We’re excited to come up against Mooroopna, I think they will be one of the strongest sides this year and we are looking to improve on our performance last week,” O’Sullivan said.
“I think Euroa just played a really strong defensive game on us, so our focus this week will be on our attacking play and making sure we are doing the work for each other.
“Last week a lot of our attacking drive was shut down, so we will be really looking to carry the ball into our goalers and set up better scoring opportunities.”
Rediscovering its attacking mojo will be a tough assignment against the Cats however, with impressive duo Maddie Wong and Ash Lancaster leading arguably the competition’s best defence.
“They certainly have a strong line-up all over the court, so we are just trying to focus on what we can put out there to challenge them,” O’Sullivan said.
“We know they have a really strong defence, but we are hoping with improved connectedness and ball movement we will give them a really good shake.”
The Lions will be boosted by the return of star mid-courter Casey Adamson for this clash, with her class and experience set to add an extra dimension to their attacking game plan.
“Casey is a massive in for us,” O’Sullivan said.
“She gives us a lot more versatility on the court and will help settle our team and keep us on track with the game plan we want to put out there.”
Returning to its Kings Park home court for the first time since round one, O’Sullivan said she was excited to see a sea of maroon and blue on the sidelines for this important clash.
“We are very keen to play in front of our home crowd and have more of that support from the sidelines,” she said.
“This game will really show us where we are at and determine where we are sitting in comparison to some of the top sides.
“Over the next few weeks we hit a few more of the better teams, so this game is very important for us.”