WATER POLO: The Aussie Stingers, Australia’s women’s national water polo team, will launch their 2015 international season, and their FINA World League Intercontinental title defence on Tuesday April 28, when they take on Japan in Auckland, New Zealand.
Australia has been drawn in a group with Japan, Canada and hosts New Zealand in the eight-team tournament, which will also feature China, Brazil, Kazakhstan and the Stingers long-time rivals the USA, with the top four teams progressing to the FINA World League Super Final in Shanghai, China in June.
It will be the first time the Stingers have played together since defeating China at the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series event in Perth in January, however a successful four day training camp in March and a heated National Water Polo League (NWPL) All Star game have ensured the team is prepared for the world league event.
Australian head coach Greg McFadden, who has guided the Stingers to two Olympic bronze medals, as well gold at the corresponding world league event in 2014, dismissed the length of time between outings for the team as being a hindrance to their preparation, saying that everyone has prepared well to be match fit for their opening game.
“We’ve been focusing on our defensive structure in training, it isn’t an area of weakness, but this event is a chance for us to try some different defensive systems so we can create options in our tactics whenever we need to,” McFadden said.
“The players have also contested the NWPL All Star game, and although it is an exhibition match, all of Australia’s top players versed each other in a high pressure situation. There was a lot of pride on the line and none of them wanted to lose.
“That game was also another chance for us to have the team play a number of different structures to assist our preparation.
With the intercontinental title defence on the line, McFadden said the plan is for the team to win every game and use the tournament as a benchmark to set them up for the remainder of the season.
“Our plan as always is to win every game, but we need to keep in mind that it’s always a little difficult to predict where you stand at the beginning of a tournament,” he said.
“The real importance is that we are in the top four teams at this event and qualify for the world league finals, otherwise we will rob ourselves of the opportunity to contest against strong opposition ahead of the 2015 FINA World Championships.
“Whatever we do in this tournament, it will give us a platform to evaluate where we stand ahead of the world league finals and work on any weaknesses in our game.”
Australia’s three group stage games are:
Stage Opponent Day (AUS) Date (AUS) Time (AEST)
Prelim Rounds Japan Tuesday 28 April 1300-1405
Prelim Rounds New Zealand Wednesday 29 April 1730-1835
Prelim Rounds Canada Thursday 30 April 1430-1535
The Aussie Stingers will play a crossover game against a team from the other group of competitors, their opposition dependant on their own group placing, on Friday May 1. That game will determine if the Stingers qualify for the semi finals to be held on Saturday May 2.
WATER POLO AUSTRALIA
