Posted on 13 April, 2011

The only Friday night game for the year is expected to draw a huge crowd with Gemma Kerr and Erica McMenamin playing their 200th and 250th SEABL games respectively, as well as it being the men’s first home game for 2011.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras (1/1) are facing the Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits (2/1) in what should be an enthralling contest. Kilsyth are fresh off their first win for the Season after disposing of Geelong on Sunday with a comfortable 15 point win. The Lady Bandits finished last weekend with one win and one loss; beating a strong Brisbane lineup by nine points on Friday night, before backing it up on the Saturday night against reigning premiers the Dandenong Rangers, where they were outclassed by 30 points.

Albury/ Wodonga has a great sense of stability about them with minimum changes to their 2010 roster, they did however add American Amber Land to the mix, Land won her clubs MVP award while playing for the Central Districts in South Australia last year and lead the Central ABL in rebounds.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras showed what they are capable of last weekend and should this form continue they will be considered as one of the powerhouse sides for 2011. Abby Bishop was the standout performer against Geelong with 20 points and 16 rebounds. With the team coming together late it is clear that the more they play together the better they will be.

With Gemma and Erica playing milestone games Kilsyth will do everything in their power to ensure that the celebration starts as early as possible.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras will tip off against Albury Wodonga at 6.15pm Friday April 15 on Hugh McMenamin court.

Friday night represents the start of a week for the Swinburne Cobras (1/1) with three games in six days, the first of which is against North Western Tasmania Thunder. Kilsyth are fresh from a week of no games and ready to play their first home game for Season 2011, NW Tasmania (2/0) who after two home games are undefeated thus far in 2011.

The Thunder managed to secure a five point victory against a fast finishing Nunawading Specters last week; they played a brilliant first half leading 55-35, but a lot of costly turnovers let the Specters back into the game. Tomorrow night’s game is sure to be a hard fought and tight contest with NW Tasmania on their first road trip for 2011, and the Swinburne Cobras wanting a to impress their home crowd.

Kilsyth Head Coach, Grant Wallace believes that the weekend could be season defining “Friday night is the start of a massive and possible season defining period for the Swinburne Cobras with three massive games against three high quality opponents”. 

Wallace believes that Kilsyth will need to be on the lookout for “the unbelievable athletic prowess and scoring power of Shawntes Gray and highly credentialed import, 6’10” Eric Gaff”. The Swinburne Cobras will cause their own set of headaches for the Thunder with Matt O’Hea in great form; O’Hea scored a game high 34 points against Dandenong one week ago to give the men their first win of the Season. Another player to watch out for will be Auryn MacMillan, he has settled back in after literally flying back into Australia from Germany, the day before Kilsyth’s opening match against Knox.

The Swinburne Cobras tip off against North West Tasmania at 8.15pm Friday April 15 on Hugh McMenamin court.

Season Membership and Player Sponsorship packages are now available visit www.cobras.net.au for further information on the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras.