Marlins won't look for excuses
Murray Wenzel
Friday, June 10, 2011
© The Cairns Post
INEXPERIENCE is no excuse for the Marlins to falter this season, according to senior member James Comino.
The boy they call Billy has played in two ABA-winning Marlins teams and said their young team had the requirements necessary to add to their silverware.
“We’ve got a young team, but it’s a great young team,” he said.
“That inexperience can’t be any excuse for us. We don’t have the stars that we had in those championships years like a Nathan Jawai or Aaron Grabau, but we do have a squad that is pulling their weight and picking up the pace each week.”
Comino had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the Marlins’ defeat of Ipswich last Friday in a sure sign he was back to his best.
His contribution was made more important considering Dean Brebner, who along with Dwayne Vale has been one of the few to post big points this season, had a rare off night.
“We’ve been working on sharing that ball around and not being reliant on any one player,” he said.
The defeat of Ipswich consolidated fifth spot on the QBL ladder and the Marlins have the perfect chance to surge further ahead with games against South West Pirates and fourth-placed Brisbane Capitals on the road this weekend.
For the second time in three weeks the Marlins will play multiple games away from the Fish Tank, but the new-look side is slowly taking shape and will again fancy their chances of bringing home competition points.
“The goal is two wins, no less than that,” Comino said.
Coach Brad Burdon was of the same opinion.
“The last couple of weeks at practice, I have seen this group starting to grow. The older guys are relishing their leadership roles and the younger guys have started to find what it takes to consistently perform in a league such as the QBL,” he said.
The Marlins have two tough assignments in front of them, considering the Pirates’ performance last weekend against Toowoomba and the Capitals’ 71 per cent win rate this season.
The men to stop tomorrow are NBL player Brendan Teys and former NBL player Steven Boom, who both hit 32 points for the Pirates last weekend, while the Capitals’ Tom Garlepp is fresh off a player-of-the-week performance.
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