Despite this, Head Coach Dan Ryan said it’s been one of his and the squads’ favourite pre-seasons to date.
“It’s been one of the most enjoyable pre-seasons I’ve ever had, the way they have all embraced each other and building a new version of West Coast Fever has been great to see,” Ryan said.
“We have had 13-weeks of doing the hard yards and building a new group together, and it’s been incredibly rewarding seeing the progress week to week.
“The way returning players have embraced the new players, and the new players have embraced the Fever way has been fantastic.”
The week leading into the first game has been quite eventful for Fever after elevating Training Partner and West Australian Pathway product Ruth Aryang as the squad’s 11th player.
Aryang joins her sister Sunday on the squad, and their familiar bond adds a new tactical element to Fever’s arsenal.
“They play with great instinct, their ability to win the ball is fantastic,” Ryan said.
“As sisters they can read each other exceptionally well, they can read each other’s switches and moves, so normally the things that can take years in partnerships are there the moment they step on court together.”
Fever starts the season in Sydney facing off against the Giants, and Ryan said he knows they will be tough competition to open the season.
“I think anyone that is willing to underestimate the Giants needs to rethink, because they’ve got a great ball winner in Jodie-Ann Ward, they’ve got a really experienced mid-court and a dynamic shooting circle that is dominant during that super shot period.
“For us we know we’re going to be under pressure for 60 minutes.
“They have a really passionate home crowd and we’re going to go into that game with full respect of our opposition, but also having great confidence in being a very hard team to beat on our day too”.
You can watch Fever take on the Giants on Saturday at 3pm AWST on Kayo and Foxtel.
