Tamworth coach John Ireland has praised his side’s defence following a 77-67 home final win over Sutherland on Saturday night.
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And Ireland flagged defence as the Thunderbolts’ key weapon ahead of their knockout clash against Canberra in Maitland on Saturday.
A win over Canberra would put the Thunderbolts into the Waratah League Division 1 grand final in Maitland on Sunday.
That would be their first grand final appearance since losing 91-61 to Coffs Harbour in the 2012 season finale. Ireland coached the side that year.
Against Sutherland, Ireland said Tamworth did a “fantastic” job keeping the visitors to 67 points.
“It was a great victory here against a pretty high quality team in Sutherland,” he said, adding: “Once you hit the top eight sides in NSW it basically comes down to defence.
“All the teams are so balanced and so similar in their skills and execution that it comes down to the defensive effort, and we had guys last night [Saturday] so intense in throwing themselves at loose balls and working hard for defensive and offensive rebounds.”
Ireland lauded the contribution of his bench against Sutherland, singling out Scott McGann, Jayden Pryer and Matt Monckton.
“They really made an impact on the game when they came on to the floor, both defensively and offensively,” he said.
Ireland also praised Max Chillingworth for “leading” the side defensively and limiting the offensive clout of the Sharks’ key scoring weapon, Jason Freshwater.
