Despite a dark season, the Adelaide Thunderbirds have a bright future
Exodus through retirement sees a bright future for the Thunderbirds
The Adelaide Thunderbirds have had a bad season this year. Injuries, chemistry issues, retirements and coaching changes, their season has all the hallmarks of a sports-centric episode of Home and Away.
With a new coach in Michelle Den Dekker, a young roster captained by a freshly blooded Australian rep in Erin Bell and a few championship winners from years past, the Thunderbirds couldn’t catch a break. It was a team that had only one player sitting on a statistical leaderboard (turnovers) and the result was a team that struggled to find a chemistry under a stoic coaching regime from then coach, Michelle Den Dekker.
Injuries and Chemistry Issues
Promising GA, Cody Lange, went down in game 1 of the season with a nasty ACL tear (one of the worst I’ve seen) and, towards the back-end of the season, veteran shooter Carla Borrego’s career ended due to recurring knee issues; Borrego smartly choosing to hang the shoes up rather than undergo her umpteenth knee surgery.
Week-to-week there were no lineup changes, Coach Den Dekker sticking with a tall, post-player GS in Borrego (pre-injury) and a seemingly out of form Erin Bell, who came off a strong performance representing the Diamonds in England and the World Cup.
A stark contrast to seeing her benched mid season after having a few rough games; a surprising move from the coach to bench the captain of the team while times are struggling. The team looked for guidance, hope and leadership and all of that was sitting on the bench instead of, you know, being on the court and guiding.
All of that lead to the big question, “Is it the coach or player?”
Three weeks later we got out answer: Coach Den Dekker was relieved of her duties and interim coach Kristy Keppich-Birrell stepped up to carry the season home. It was a role she stepped into with no lack of confidence and the result saw Adelaide close out the season with two solid wins over the Central Pulse and Mainland Tactix — two teams who found themselves at the bottom of the NZ conference ladder, but, still, a win is a win.
Coach Keppich-Birrell’s destiny, however, wasn’t to remain in Adelaide. Instead, she accepted the head coaching job at the newly formed Collingwood club (please don’t call them the Magpies) and was then spotted by yours truly at last week’s Firebirds v Swifts game, presumably, scouting talent.
Retirement
After all of the injury woes and coaching switcheroos, news dropped at the close of the regular season that Borrego and Emily Beaton were retiring; both bits of news dropping within two days of one another.
These retirements became a blessing in disguise as it began to open up developmental time for a younger crop of players to play, with Kristina Brice being an offensive, albeit raw, revelation for the team on the offensive end. Brice’s height allowed the Thunderbirds offense to use her as a post-anchor while Bell tried to find a way to swan about near the top and mid point of the goal circle to lock away her shots from distance.
Dan Ryan Returns
As the regular season wound down, Adelaide almost immediately — once the ink dried, at least — jumped onto announcing the hiring of Manchester Thunder coach, Dan Ryan; Ryan coached the Thunderbirds as an assistant for a time prior to his UK trip.
The combination of a young coach with a group of young players spells growth left, right and centre and Ryan’s organisational familiarity looked to be another one up for Adelaide.
At the end of the day, it’s not all in flames after a dismal season. There’s a new competition coming next year which signals an opening up of the Australian talent pool and money to offer, so it’s not all doom and gloom. To their credit, the Thunderbirds always tried to look on the bright side of things and remained steadfast in their belief that they could win, and if that belief carries over into the new league then anything is possible for this new look side.
You can hear more about The Afterthought’s ANZ Championships coverage via our sports podcast, The Goal Circle.
