The Warriors Men concluded their five month pre-season over the weekend at the annual BIG V pre-season tournament held at Frankston.

Results Recap

Warriors 72 def Melton 50

Warriors 58 def Shepparton 39

Warriors 45 def by Maccabi 49

Warriors 50 def by Mornington 64

Semi Final: Warriors 52 def by Casey 55

Coaches Comment:

We entered the weekend with an open mind about getting some more game time into guys, continuing to work on our structures and having a look at some of our opposition who we hadn't played at this stage.

The boys came out switched on and had two comfortable wins by 20 points but had a mammoth task of backing up with only an hour off in between our second and third games in 40+ degree heat. We had our chances but fell short in the dying stages against Maccabi.

On Sunday the boys were feeling the effects of being the only team to play three games on Saturday and were flat against Mornginton but a spirited last quarter fightback was important for our continual growth as a team.

On the Sunday night it was great to have our first hitout against local rivals Casey and with a 50% new line-up for our squad it was invaluable for those guys to experience the rivalry that exists. In the end we missed far too many free throws but I was rapt to see our second group bring us back into the game in the last quarter. It really showed all the guys that what I have been preaching; it doesn't matter who we have in the game, our structures being executed is most important which those guys did in a pressure situation.

A weekend like that comes down to a number of factors notably stamina and who your opposition have in their pool games but in the end, the tournament holds little weight as nobody remembers who won the pre-season tournament come Saturday when the ball it thrown up to start the season proper.

The one thing I have noticed is we have a target on our backs - nobody thinks of the team as a 2-18 squad and are coming hard at us every possession. As I told the boys theres no pressure internally but definitely expectation from outside so we must meet their work rate and be switched on which they definitely have greater appreciation for.

Bring on the season, we're ready!