Flames coach hits out at bye

Rockingham Flames women’s coach Ryan Petrik believes his side have been dealt the short straw after the release of the Women’s State Basketball League fixtures.

Petrik pinpointed a crucial bye for the Flames in round 20 of the competition, as neither Goldfields Giants nor Geraldton Buccaneers have a women’s side.

Elsewhere, the Flames begin league matters away to Willetton Tigers on March 13 – and have a mouth-watering grand final repeat against the South West Slammers on April 27.

“We’re used to it, we haven’t had good fixtures from the league for a while – the only one we really have a problem with is week 20,” he said.

“We told the State Basketball League we weren’t happy about it at the draft stage.

“While everyone else gets a final hit out, we don’t play round 20 and we’ve got 14 days off between round 19 and the finals.”

Petrik did not subscribe to the belief that a week off before finals could benefit his team.

“In 2012, there was a patch of six or seven matches after a bye and it seemed like every single time a team returned from a bye they played absolutely awful,” he said.

“It’s hard to keep that intensity for four training sessions in a row – if you’d ask any coach in the league they’d like to play in the final round of the year.”