RUSH co-captain Abbey Wehrung is poised to make her season debut before home crowds in the South East Australian Basketball League on Sunday.
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Wehrung must pass final fitness checks before she is cleared to play after surgery to remove her appendix on the eve of the season.
This will be Ballarat Rush fans’ first chance to watch Wehrung in action since her return from a debut season with Canberra Capitals in the Women’s National Basketball League.
Harvey Norman Ballarat Rush coach Peter Cunningham said Wehrung had trained well this week and – should she be cleared to play – will remain on limited minutes against Kilsyth. But they would be good minutes against Kilsyth.
Rush co-captain Kristy Rinaldi will be back in the line-up.
Rinaldi was unavailable for last week’s trip to Brisbane and will be a welcome inclusion against another experienced rival.
The Kilsyth team sports Steph Cumming, who transferred to the Lady Cobras from the MARS Minerdome in the off-season.
Cumming has been aver-
aging 18 points with 40 per cent accuracy, while hitting 7-17 beyond the three-point line.
American post player Cass Sant, a mobile tall, has been averaging 19.3 points and 8.7 rebounds, and already leads the league in blocks.
Rush’s new combinations are starting to settle but, after a winless three games in the opening two rounds, have got to get some reward on the board or they will be playing catch-up for the remaining season.
They are playing six of last season’s eight finalists straight-up to launch their season.
Cunningham has reiterated team expectations and tactics all week and drawn on lots of situational plays in training to ensure his players are clear on how they must perform.
He was impressed by the players’ intensity and tenacity at training and, should it translate to match day, he says it should give Rush fans plenty to cheer about.
“The key to us is to play well and be positive,” Cunningham said.
“We must restrict opposition scoring because we’ve been giving too much away.
“... We’re not poor offensively, but we need to find more avenues to score while cutting our errors.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working on defence, rotations and responsibility.”
Kilsyth chalked up wins against strong rivals Sandringham and Frankston last week.
They will arrive at the Minerdome after hosting Hobart on Saturday night.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au