How Shannon Seebohm is preparing the Townsville Fire for a shot at back to back titles

The reigning WNBL Coach of the Year sees character and continuity as key to the Fire's title defence

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“I’m used to us being under the radar,” Townsville Fire coach Shannon Seebohm tells The Pick and Roll.

“But, now that we’ve won the championship, things are going to be different. Teams have turned over their rosters quite a bit, and every team will be rolling in thinking they’re going to have a great chance to win. We need to have a great sense of urgency and know that we’re going to get everyone’s best shot this year.”

While going back-to-back is never easy in professional sport, the way the Fire have retooled last year’s team, which won a remarkable 16 straight games on their way to the title, gives them a gilt-edged chance at repeating.

It tells you a lot about Townsville’s off-season that they lost an All-WNBL second team star in Lauren Nicholson but brought in an All-WNBL first teamer in Opals star Sami Whitcomb. While the tough, versatile Nicholson, who has returned to Sydney, is a major loss, the team couldn’t have done any better than bringing in one of the league’s all-time great scorers.