Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Tall Fern Jody Tini (Photosport)

Veteran Tall Fern Jody Tini has been drafted into the injury-plagued Christchurch Sirens for their Australian Defence Force WNBL road trip to Melbourne this weekend.

Tini co-captained the national team at last monthís FIBA Oceania Championships and replaces Kiwi forward Lisa Wallbutton, who has been diagnosed with a stress fracture to her foot.

ìShe is with us for the weekend and helps make up for the loss of Lisa to a certain degree,î says Sirens coach Leigh Gooding.

ìJody knows most of our stuff pretty well, she fits into the group fairly well, and will bring experience and toughness to the team.

ìAt the moment, itís just for this weekend Ö weíll have to play it by ear after that.î

The New Zealand-based franchise have been reeling over the first three weeks of their debut season in the Aussie league, losing forward Charmian Purcell (knee) and guard Noni Wharemate (back) to injury before it even began, then Wallbutton in the second game.

Those absences have exposed the Sirens bench during their 0-5 start, thrusting some players into more prominent roles than they are ready for at this level.

ìI think we could have been more competitive in some games if those players were available,î says Gooding, the Tall Ferns assistant. ìWe donít have any depth when they are not in the group.

ìWhen I look down the bench Ö Natalie Purcell and Suzie Bates should have been role players this year, but theyíre playing significant time. The likes of Natalie Moore, Georgina Richards and Karlene Kingi probably wouldnít have been in our traveling squad, but have already been on the road with us.î

To some extent, that could explain the Sirensí inability, so far, to sustain their effort over 40 minutes. In practically every game, they have been competitive for three quarters, only to fall away in the fourth.

Over their first three games, they were outscored by a combined 62-29 down the stretch. Against Dandenong last week, they dropped a 24-8 third quarter in a 24-point loss, then conceded all their final deficit during the opening period (11-34) in a 66-89 defeat by Sydney University the following night.

ìThat does seem to be a trend,î agrees Gooding. ìWe struggle at the offensive end to get anything going and we seem to break down defensively.

ìWeíre not a good enough team to give up 30 points in a quarter or score just 10. We need to play four consistent quarters every game.î

After dropping their season opener at home to Townsville Fire, this will be the Sirensí third consecutive double-header trip across the ditch, an immediate lesson in the demands on a trans-Tasman sporting franchise.

This week, they face Bulleen Boomers (1-2) on Friday and Bendigo Spirit (2-2), the other expansion outfit, on Saturday.

ìI think we stack up against these teams a little better than the others we have played so far,î says Gooding. ìOver the past 24 hours, the girls have started to feel pretty good about the weekend and theyíre looking forward to it.

ìWeíre hoping we can have a competitive weekend and if things go our way, we can maybe pull off a win.

ìBut they are two very good teams that seem to get performances out of eight or nine players, while our downfall has been we have relied on three or four. We need more.î