Marauding Pirates eyeing finals treasure

Coming off the bye in round seven, Leo Tenace’s men have dropped to third on the North-West standings, but only on percentage as they are tied on points with Bendigo Braves (first) and Maryborough Blazers (second).

The equation is simple. Victory against Castlemaine books a home-court final next week, while defeat will see the Pirates travel to either Maryborough or Bendigo for a shot at the grand final.

The in-form Echuca boasts a line-up firing at both ends of the court, with Pirates centre Tyler Phillips lauding his side’s “suffocating” defence.

“We’re very well balanced,” Phillips said.

“Our defence is pretty handy, we’ve kept the top two teams to around 50 points each. It’s just really suffocating.

“We’re able just to run the ball and score easily.”

With just one win to Castlemaine’s name this season the Pirates will come in as favourites in the round eight clash.

But Phillips is wary of letting the foot off the gas.

“The guys will just be trying not to drop off and stay consistent with the way we play,” he said.

“We’ll try and get some minutes into the younger guys who we’ll need come finals time.”

The Pirates’ women are also staring down the barrel of a second consecutive finals series.

Echuca sits third in the women’s North-West conference and will make the trip away to face Mildura, which is also hunting for a finals spot.

Co-coach Georgie Eishold is looking forward to the challenge.

“We’re in an exciting position,” Eishold said.

“To have an opportunity to get to Mildura and go for the win just adds a little more excitement.

“Obviously we’re not sure what the next couple of weeks look like but we’re pretty focused this weekend to get the win.

“We have a few out but we also have quite a big team list, but that just gives others an opportunity to step up.

“Alex Glanville’s been a really strong contributor for us in the last couple of weeks so we’re looking forward to taking her with us on the road.”