Bendigo Bank Spirit star Kristi Harrower will play against Bulleen this weekend, but admits her ongoing Achilles tendon problems are a concern ahead of this year’s London Olympics.
Harrower recently recovered from a torn Achilles tendon which hampered her in the first half of the WNBL season, but she hurt her other Achilles in the final quarter of the home match against Dandenong on January 13.
Despite the injury, Harrower played almost 36 minutes – the most for the Spirit – in Friday night’s loss in Adelaide, although she only played 13 minutes in Sunday’s loss against West Coast in Perth.
Harrower is unsure of the extent of the injury this time.
“We can’t do anything anyway, it’s a critical time of the season,” Harrower said.
After two losses last weekend, the Spirit have dropped from third to fifth on the ladder.
They face four crunch games to end the regular season, starting on the road against Liz Cambage’s Bulleen Boomers on Saturday night.
Harrower said she will be able to play with limited preparation this week.
“I’m not sure if I’ll train much this week, I was pretty sore after Friday in Adelaide,” Harrower said.
“I’m just going to try and get through and see what I can do.”
Harrower has struggled with Achilles problems throughout her career but said “this year they’ve been really, really sore”.
The Australian Opals star is hoping to go to her fourth-straight Olympic Games in London and admits she will need to work hard on her fitness after the WNBL season and manage her body.
The Opals have a two-day camp beginning March 19 before coming together on a permanent basis from mid-May ahead of the Olympics, which start July 27.
Harrower said she could struggle to train twice a day with her national team-mates, but she expects the coaching staff to understand and manage her workload.
“I won’t be able to do every session they want me to do,” Harrower said.
“It is a bit of a worry, after the season I need to try and get my body right.”
Harrower said the preparation for this year’s Olympics was the biggest she had seen for the Opals since Sydney in 2000 and most of the national players had opted to play in the WNBL, rather than overseas, to push their selection claims.
“This year they’ve tried to keep everyone at home, that’s why nearly every four years it’s a pretty good WNBL,” Harrower said.
The Spirit’s two losses last weekend undid the club’s good work from the previous weekend when it beat Dandenong and Canberra to climb from sixth to third on the ladder.
Losing to top-team Adelaide on Friday night was always a tough ask, but the two-point loss to West Coast – only the Perth team’s second win of the year – may hurt the Spirit’s finals ambitions.
“It’s probably going to come back and bite us on the bum later down the track,” Harrower said.
“We probably didn’t respect them enough. We’re not good enough to flick the switch on halfway through a game.
“When we play our best we can beat anyone, but there’s been no inbetween this year – we’re either terrible or good.”
The Spirit is clinging to the last finals position in fifth, equal on games played and won with sixth-placed Dandenong and Sydney in seventh.
Email a friend